The Seventh Year
by novella814
Summary: YYHxHP The Tantei are sent to Hogwarts in order to deal with a certain dark lord who has been causing Reikai some trouble. First, however, they must befriend Harry Potter and his friends in order to find Voldemort's weakness...Horcruxes! DISCONTINUED!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The day of the Apparation test had dawned a foreboding, drizzly gray. Fortunately for Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, the miserable weather had brightened up to a slightly more optimistic scene with gleaming rays of sun valiantly shining through the heavy clouds by late morning.

The notification of the test's date (August 4) had arrived the day after the Hogwarts letters. According to Ron, who had heard it from Mr. Weasley, who had heard it from Professor McGonagall, the headmistress herself, it had been almost unanimously ruled that closing Hogwarts actually put the wizarding community at a disadvantage. Having either incomplete or no training put young wizards and witches in a much more vulnerable position with Voldemort on the loose and prepared to go on a killing spree.

Mrs. Weasley had decided to put off school shopping until the tests, since they, too, would be taking place in Diagon Alley. Harry still had not had the heart to inform her that he, Ron, and Hermione would no longer be attending their final year of school. To be truthful, he was not entirely sure that he would be carrying out his original plan. After going to Godric's Hollow and paying his respects to his parents, Harry had begun to have some doubts. Lily and James would not have been happy to hear that their only son was dropping out of school. Also, as Hermione so commonly reminded him, Hogwarts was an invaluable resource. Going without the information provided by the people and books located within would be a serious drawback to their search for the locations of the remaining Horcruxes and the identity of the mysterious RAB.

Harry and Ron passed the Apparation test with ease, aided by Hermione and Ginny cheering them on. Ron was extremely careful to take every hair of his eyebrows along with him. They both received thrilled praises from the Ministry officials overseeing the process.

Currently, the Trio (plus Ginny) were walking down the main row of shops in Diagon Alley. Gringotts was vaguely visible in the distance as a looming white lump that towered over the rest of the stores.

"So… What are we supposed to do now?" Ginny wondered.

Ron was too busy exulting in his newfound Apparating privilege to pay his younger sister any attention, "And then," he recounted, "I began to turn. I concentrated on Madame Malkin's so hard, I was afraid that I would never be able to get it out of my mind again–"

"I believe that we should start picking up our school supplies. It's not a good idea to go into Hogwarts unprepared," Harry informed his ex-girlfriend. He and Ginny were back on good terms again. She respected his decision and the reasons behind it, even if she didn't necessarily like it. She understood that this façade was simply for her protection, and that beneath it all he still loved her all the same. She would play along while she must.

"–so then I tried really hard to make sure I had every bit of my body with me, down to the last hair–"

"So I take it you're going back to Hogwarts this year?" Hermione questioned.

"Yeah, I decided it would be for the best," Harry replied with a sigh as they continued to walk down the boulevard, headed towards Flourish and Blotts. "My only worry is that we won't be able to leave the school if we have to go after a lead."

"–And then I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, there was this guy telling me that I had passed–"

"Don't worry Harry, I'll have a serious little talk with Professor McGonagall–oh, Ron! Will you be _quiet_?!"

Ron glared briefly at Hermione before shutting his mouth sharply.

"I just remembered!" Ginny exclaimed. "Didn't Mum want us to pick up a couple of transfer students who are going to be staying with us until Hogwarts starts in a couple of weeks?"

The Trio's jaws dropped as they stared at her. "What?" Ron finally managed to whisper. "She never said that!"

"Yes she did, Ronniekins," Ginny said in a bored tone with a roll of her eyes. "If you paid attention to things once in a while, you might have heard."

"Ah! I remember that now! I just find it strange," Hermione frowned. "With Professor Dumbledore's death and all, parents have been withdrawing their kids from Hogwarts like crazy. It's odd that a bunch of kids from Japan would go out of their way to come here with the Wizarding world in its currently sorry state."

"I think that they have to attend school in another country for a year as part of their training is what Mum said," Ginny explained.

"Why is it that I have no idea what you guys are talking about?" Ron complained.

"Dunno mate. Perhaps they were all speaking some sort of 'girl-lingo' when Mrs. Weasley explained all of this; I don't remember a thing either," Harry suggested as he steered the group into the bookstore.

A group of teenagers a year or two younger than Harry and his friends were gathered around a book display centered on creatures mythical even in the wizarding world.

A tall redhead was bent over a book about demons and spirits, entitled _Demons and Spirits: Mythical or Missing?_ Beside him was a vertically challenged boy with gravity defying black hair who was looking through his own copy of the book. Overseeing the two was another kid whose hair looked as if it contained a combination of 12 bottles of hair gel and 7 cans of hairspray. If one were to touch it, it would probably be as hard as a hardhat. The short kid snorted. "If more than one word in this book is factual, I'll eat my katana." The taller black-haired boy replied. "Come on, not everyone is as knowledgeable about youkai as you. Give the poor author a break."

Tearing his gaze away from the odd assemblage of teens, Harry lead his friends over to the prearranged section selected especially for Hogwarts students. Judging by the length of their booklists this year, their money purses were going to be considerably lighter by the time this shopping spree was finished.

**Final Word Count:** 1,044

**Disclaimer:** YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi and all related industries. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and all related industries. I make no profit off this work of fiction.

**A/N:** Urge to write an HPxYYH crossover struck suddenly when I was on a fourteen hour car ride home. Please tell me what you thought, or I will be unable to make any improvements. The YYH gang will make more of an appearance in the next chapter. Kuwabara's absence will be explained. I will be using the Japanese terms for demon, etc. I will also be using Japanese honorifics when required. If you want a glossary, just tell me and I'll post it in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny made their way to the Leaky Cauldron, all four of them loaded with heavy, bulging packages. They had been instructed to meet the new transfer students at the bar. Mrs. Weasley was back at the Burrow preparing the house, Mr. Weasley, the twins, and Charlie all were too wrapped up in work, and Bill and Fleur were on their honeymoon. So, the four were on their own.

They all sat down at a table. When Tom dropped by to ask if they wanted drinks, Hermione had to stop Ron from taking advantage of the fact that he was of age and ordering a Firewhiskey, while Harry hastily ordered four butterbeers. Hermione scanned the room, looking for some kids who might be Japanese or at least someone who looked like they weren't British. No one caught her attention until three teenagers came through the door with a gust of hot summer air. To be truthful, only one actually looked like a stereotypical Japanese student with his black hair and brown eyes. One of his friends was rather short with unusual flame-shaped hair and _red_ eyes. He seemed to have some sort of bandana tied across his forehead. The other one – was it a girl or a boy? The lack of chest pointed to the latter, while the long red hair and effeminate features supported the former.

Hermione elbowed Ron, the person unfortunate enough to be sitting closest to her. "I think that's them." She pointed at the group of new kids. "So that's who they are, huh?" he asked, staring across the room at them.

"Ron, that's rude!" Hermione exclaimed, slapping Ron's hand lightly to emphasize her point. He shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry…"

"Guess I'll go introduce myself to them and bring the lot over here," Hermione informed the table at random.

She pushed back the chair and walked over to where the three transfers were talking to Tom the barman. Hermione ran over their names in her mind, careful not to fumble in her pronunciation. _Yusuke Urameshi, Shuichi Minamino, Hiei Jaganshi. Yusuke Urameshi, Shuichi Minamino, Hiei Jaganshi._

Kurama glanced up from his conversation with the barman, who was currently asking how they enjoyed their first taste of England. A teenaged girl with bushy brown hair, perhaps a year or two older than his human self, was walking towards their little party.

"Hiei, Yusuke? I believe that this might be one of our hosts who is approaching. What do you say? Should we go greet her?"

"Sure," Yusuke agreed.

"Hn," was Hiei's affirmative reply.

The three got up and walked towards the quickly approaching girl.

Hermione waited nervously as the three transfer students walked closer to her. As they drew to be several feet away, she nervously asked, "Are you Yusuke Urameshi, Shuichi Minamino, and Hiei Jaganshi?"

The redhead nodded and stepped forward, although he (or was it she?) seemed to be silently laughing at some sort of inside joke. Due to the long hair and feminine facial features compiled with a slender yet masculine body, Hermione was hard pressed to differentiate the line between male and female with this new arrival. Then the person spoke. Oops! Definitely male. "Yes, and hello. I am Shuichi, the one on my right is Yusuke, and the one on my left is Hiei. Who are you, if I may ask? I'm afraid I didn't quite catch your name the first time."

"Oops! Sorry about that; I didn't say. I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione blushed.

Kurama eyed Hermione, finally having gotten over the fact that Jaganshi had somehow been mistaken purposely or accidentally for Hiei's surname. He could tell that it had bugged the little fire youkai as well, though Hiei's expression was hardly different from the normally annoyed look his features were usually set in.

"I take it that you are the person we will be staying with," Kurama stated. He wasn't entirely sure, though. When explaining the mission, Koenma-sama had mentioned that they were staying with a family called the Weasleys; this girl was a Granger.

"No, actually I'm not. You're going to be staying with the Weasleys. My friend Harry and I are staying with them as well, so they sent me to bring you over. Ron and his sister Ginny, the redheads over there, are your hosts." Hermione pointed over towards the table where Harry, Ron, and Ginny were waiting expectantly.

"Well, Ku–Shuichi, it seems like you'll fit in all fine and dandy," Yusuke smirked, directing the comment towards Kurama's unique hair color, although the fox was clearly lacking the trademark Weasley freckles.

"Yusuke," the annoyed kitsune threatened, "Do you _really_ want to die so young?"

"It was just a joke!" he protested, laughing nervously. After seeing a good deal of Kurama in action, Yusuke had learned to treat the fox with as much respect as Hiei in a bad mood. "No harm meant," he apologized, attempting to make amends.

Kurama inclined his head slightly, indicating his acceptance of the apology. Adverting his attention to Hermione, who had become slightly entranced by the strange argument, he asked, "Care to introduce us to your friends?"

She quickly jerked out of her stupor, nervously glancing at him and then at Hiei, whose red gaze was pointedly focused away from the current proceedings and on a scratched up spot of wood on the bar's wall.

It would be uncovered years later that those markings were actually an exact replica only seven millimeters by seven millimeters large of the manuscript of the as of yet unpublished seventh Harry Potter book. This meant that the scratches revealed all the secret futures of Harry Potter and the rest of the wizarding world and could have made the trio's task a whole lot easier. Unfortunately, this was only for Hiei and the author to know.

Hermione led the three tantei over to where Harry, Ron, and Ginny were waiting. "Ron, Ginny, these are the three transfer students from Japan that will be staying at your house."

The introductions began all over again.

"I'm Shuichi Minamino. Pleased to meet you."

"Yo! I'm Yusuke Urameshi."

"…"

Hermione watched as Harry and the rest of the gang stared at Hiei, waiting for his name. In the end, Shuichi sighed and ran a hand through his long red hair. "And this is Hiei. I'm sorry if he's a bit unsociable. He isn't intentionally being impolite."

Kurama resisted the urge to chuckle as Hiei's voice rang through his mind. _Are you so sure about that?_

Now, it was Harry, Ron, and Ginny's turn to introduce themselves. Kurama eyed the three levelly. So the two redheads were the ones they were staying with? As far as he could tell by sight, both of them seemed to be good kids. Kurama reviewed the teenagers' reiki levels. The red haired boy was nothing special. Neither was his sister, although she did have a tad more reiki than the average wizard. Still, it was nothing compared to even half of Yusuke's energy. Now, the glasses kid had something extraordinary. He had massive amounts of reiki, but it seemed to be sealed behind some sort of barrier. It still was nothing compared to that of any of the Tantei, but it bore investigating all the same.

Kurama's train of thought came careening of the tracks when the boy with the mysterious power began to talk. "Hi, I'm Harry Potter," he paused, as if waiting for some reaction. Receiving none, he continued. "I'm a friend of the Weasley's, so I'm going to be staying with them for the rest of the summer as well." He stopped to allow the boy next to him a turn.

"Ron Weasley here. It's my house your going to be staying at." He stopped, allowing his sister a turn to speak.

"Hi, I'm Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister. It'll be nice having some new faces around. What year are you in? I'm sixth year, and the other three are seventh."

"Hmm…what year? I think that the toddler said we'd be seventh year," Yusuke replied as he, Hiei, and Shuichi pulled up chairs to the table, which was growing more cramped by the minute.

"Really?" Hermione asked, filing Yusuke's comment away for later reference. Who was this 'toddler' person, anyway? "If you don't mind me saying, you look a bit young to be seventeen."

At this comment, Shuichi laughed. As Hermione was in the process of wondering what was so amusing, he clarified. "That's because we aren't. I'm fifteen, and Yusuke and Hiei are both fourteen. Magical instruction in Japan works a bit differently than that of western schools.

"For example, we start younger, at seven or eight. We also are trained in three areas: mind, body, and spirit. With a sharp mind and fit body, we can use our magical, or spiritual energy to perform wandless magic. It's not as useful for precise little things, but we can generate huge blasts of raw energy or control objects or elements that rest within or specialized area. Because of this achievement, channeling our energy through a amplifying wand is a simple task, placing us on a slightly higher level among your wizards. We do have to be careful not to use too much energy and blow up our wands, though.

"Another difference is in how we are taught. Each student learns at his or her own pace, progressing to new material as soon as they have learned the old. We work free of any restraining or dictating curriculum."

"Wow…" Hermione breathed as Shuichi finished his explanation. Harry, Ron, and Ginny all shared her look of amazement, while Yusuke and Hiei just seemed bored.

"That's amazing!" Ron exclaimed, released from the trance.

"I wouldn't mind transferring to Japan for a year," Harry said. "Your description makes even Hogwarts at its most exciting seem dull."

"No, you wouldn't want to. The teacher's idea of a good education involves putting your through hell," Yusuke informed them seriously. "My sensei made me scale cliff faces, float in the air, and balance on a spike with one finger using only raw rei-magic. It was _not_ a pleasant experience."

Sweat dripped from the faces of the Hogwarts quartet in copious amounts.

"I just noticed something," Ginny realized. "All three of you, although I can't really tell with Hiei, since he hasn't spoken much, speak English better than even some native speakers I know."

"Well, I speak fluent English, having learned it in school. Yusuke and Hiei are using translation potions. They have to drink the concoction every week. The nicest thing, though, is that they can still switch back to Japanese anytime they want to."

"Well," Hermione said, "if were all done here, we'd better get going. I'd better go ask Tom if we can use his fireplace."

She pushed back her chair and went off in search of the old barman. She found him drying some glasses back behind the bar.

"Need to Floo home?" he questioned. "Feel free to use the fire at any time. Need Floo powder?" Hermione nodded. "How many?"

"Seven."

"It'll be two sickles and one Knut for the lot."

"Thanks." She pulled out her purse any began to rummage through it in search of some change. She was startled by a tap on the shoulder. Apparently Shuichi had followed her over.

"I'll pay," he offered.

Hermione began to stutter. "Oh, no! It's fine. You needn't really!"

Kurama assured her that she needn't worry and that he had plenty of money. Truthfully, Koenma had granted them full use of the Reikai treasury for _mission expenses only_. He had announced this _very_ forcefully when Yusuke had gotten an evil gleam in his eye just thinking about the massive amounts of riches. Of course, if it was a souvenir for Koenma, they were encouraged to spend as much as they wanted to.

He pressed the money into the barman's hand, accepted the pouch of Floo powder (Koenma had explained the concept earlier), and ushered Hermione back to where Ron was scowling in annoyance at Kurama's attentions.

"I believe that Yusuke, Hiei, and I need to run up to our rooms to grab our bags. We'll be down in a moment," Kurama announced. The three took off up the stairs before the Hogwarts lot could offer any protestations.

"What did you think of them, Kurama?" Yusuke questioned in Japanese. "I thought they were trustworthy."

"They seemed to be harmless as far as I could tell," Kurama replied. He hesitated mentioning the strange suppressed reiki he had sensed from the Potter boy. That could wait until they had more time. "Hiei? What do you think?"

"Hn. No weak humans cause me any worry." Kurama knew that Hiei, despite his careless answer, had sensed Potter's reiki, too.

"Well, that settles it," Yusuke concluded cheerfully. "We can trust these guys for now."

The Japanese trio came down the rickety old stairs, each carrying two small bags. Shuichi handed Ron the Floo powder. "I believe that you know our destination a bit better than I do," he said.

It seemed to Hermione that he sounded friendlier and more open than before, if that was possible. Yusuke too seemed to have softened up a bit. Hiei showed no sign of change.

Ron threw a pinch of the pale green powder into the large fireplace. As the flames turned green and leapt to lick the mantelpiece, Ron stepped in, ducking his head lightly, and shouted, voice slightly muffled by the crackling of the fire, "The Burrow!"

Harry and Hermione followed his example, and Hiei, Shuichi, and Yusuke stepped in after them. Ginny had offered to go last, just to make sure every one got to the Burrow okay.

* * *

**Final Word Count:** 2,286

**Disclaimer:** YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi and all related industries. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and all related industries. I make no profit off this work of fiction.

Jaganshi is not Hiei's actually last name. It is a title of sorts. By saying "Hiei Jaganshi", Hermione is saying something akin to "Hiei of the Evil Eye/Jagan", even if she doesn't realize it. You can see why Kurama might be amused.

**A/N:** No, I don't have anything against Kurama (I couldn't! He's one of my favorite characters!). It's just that everyone takes a crack at his appearance in these types of fanfics. It almost seems traditional. I felt I had to do it. I hope the format didn't confuse anyone too much. I kept switching between Kurama and Hermione's 3rd person POVs. To make it easier to tell, I left a larger space between paragraphs when I switched. Another thing that should tip you off is that when one of the Reikai Tantei has the current POV, our favorite kitsune will be referred to as Kurama, but if one of the Hogwarts kids has the POV, he will be called Shuichi. If you need a more obvious marker, just tell me and I'll put one in.

* * *

**Glossary**

_Not all have these words have come into commission yet; just check back here for reference._

_-chan_ – Affectionate/familiar honorific used mainly with young girls

_Hai_ – Yes

_Makai_ – Demon World

_Ningen_ – Human(s)

_Ningenkai – _Human World

_Oi_ - Hey

_Okaa-san/Kaa-san_ – Mother/Mom

_Rei_ - Spirit

_Reikai_ – Spirit World

_Reikai Tantei_ – Spirit Detective(s)

_Reiki_ – Spirit Energy

_-san_ – Respectful honorific, equivalent to Mr/Mrs/Miss

_-sama – _Respectful honorific, equivalent to Lord/Lady

_Tantei_ – Detective(s)

_Youkai_ – Demon

_Youki_ – Demon Energy


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The seven teenagers came tumbling out of the Weasley fireplace to land in a sooty pile on the floor. Well, five of them landed in the sooty pile. Hiei and Kurama, while slightly blackened, managed to keep their balance as they spun out onto the hearth.

After helping up those on the floor, Hiei, Yusuke and Kurama took stock of their surroundings. They were in the kitchen of a house that was odd even by youkai standards. Everything seemed to be a patchwork of mismatched magical items. Kurama voiced his opinions out loud: "This is cozy; I like it." His remark was closely followed by Yusuke's "Cool house," and Hiei's typical "Hn."

"Glad you like it," Ron grinned. "Mum's been cleaning like crazy in preparation for your arrival. Only, I kinda forgot about it, so I thought she was doing it just for the sake of being a crazy cleaner."

"Congratulations on the wonderful alliteration, Ron," Ginny said sarcastically. "But yeah, he's right. After Bill and Fleur's wedding, she turned us all out of the house…sent us to Head – a friend's house, I mean, so that she could dust without interruption."

Hiei tugged on Kurama's sleeve. "Kitsune, where do we put this?" he asked, referring to the luggage he, Kurama, and Yusuke were still toting around.

"Yes, where will we be staying?" Kurama inquired, turning to face their hosts. He had wondered whether they each would have their own room, or if the three Tantei would share. Then, there was also the possibility that he and his companions would have to sleep with some of the normal humans. Privacy would have its peaks, that was for sure. They would be able to discuss the mission away from prying eyes, and it would also draw attention away from Hiei's unusual preference to either sleep on window sills or high up in trees

"I dunno," Ron replied. "Lemme ask Mum. MUM!" he called, "WE'RE HOME!"

There was a rustling sound outside the door and a flustered Mrs. Weasley rushed in. "I saw you coming on the clock," she explained, "but I had to do a couple of finishing touches first."

Yusuke stepped forward. It was cruel having Kurama do all the introductions. He was probably tired of it by now. "Yo! I'm Urameshi Yusuke, the guy with the long red hair is Ku – Minamino Shuichi, and the unsociable runt is Jaganshi Hiei." At these words, Hiei released a guttural grow and glared at the unfortunate Spirit Detective.

"Hey!" Ron interjected. "I thought you guys' first names were Yusuke, Shuichi, and Hiei, not the other way around."

Kurama realized that the translation potion apparently didn't catch little quirks like that. "In Japan," he explained, "we say our last name first. It would seem that the translation potion doesn't fix that."

"Well, anyway, pleased to meet you boys –" here, Kurama sighed in relief, glad that there was no confusion over his gender " – My name's Molly Weasley. Ron? Will you take them upstairs? Harry will be staying in your room, Ginny and Hermione will be in her room, and Shuichi, Hiei, and Yusuke will be in Fred and George's old bedroom."

"I'm going to start getting supper ready, so Ron, Ginny, if you would lead them up…"

The whole gang traipsed up the stars following the two redheads in front. Kurama watched as they passed by a variety of doors, some opened, other not. As the septet neared the top, the two guiding Weasleys slowed to a stop.

"Here's your room," Ron said, gesturing towards a door on the right. "Harry and I are on the top, and Ginny and Hermione are in between. If you need something, holler."

"I reckon that Mum will have dinner done in about half an hour," Ginny added, "so you should have time to get all of your bags unpacked."

When the room was opened, it was in slightly better shape than it had been when Harry had stayed in it. The boxes had been removed, and there were now three nice-looking beds and the same number of chests of drawers. Luckily (for Hiei) there was a window, shielded by red and white checkered curtains.

Hiei immediately moved towards the bed nearest to the window and set his bags down upon it. As Yusuke started to choose a sleeping place, Kurama hastily took the middle bed, hoping it would forestall any possible arguments that could possibly occur between the other two.

"This really isn't such a bad place," Yusuke commented. Kurama had the feeling that he had originally offered a complement just to be polite. "A bit cramped, though."

"While we have some time," Kurama suggested, "Why don't we discuss the mission a bit more. In all the confusion, I never really did catch Koenma-sama's reason for keeping Kuwabara-kun behind."

"But," Yusuke began apprehensively, "what if we're overheard?" Kurama cut him off with an uncharacteristic smirk. "Got that covered," he replied, pointing to a rubbery vine that was quickly filling in all the gaps between the door and the doorframe. Yusuke hadn't even seen the fox run a hand through his hair. Hiei might have, but if he did, the little fire youkai wasn't telling.

"Ah!" Yusuke said, satisfied with Kurama's reply.

* * *

"I wonder what those three are talking about in there," Ron said, glaring suspiciously at the door behind which the three transfers were currently having some sort of discussion.

"Honestly, Ron!" Hermione ejaculated. "They're just Japanese transfer students. It's not like they're _hiding_ something."

"It's just, why Hogwarts?!" Ron exclaimed. "They could have gone anywhere in the world, even to America, but they have to choose the place where the wizarding world is at war. It just seems too suspicious."

"You know, I agree," Harry concurred with a nod.

Hermione groaned. "Not you too, Harry!"

"Hey! It can't hurt to investigate them a bit," Harry defended.

"It's an invasion of privacy!" Hermione insisted. "Tell them, Ginny!"

"Well," Ginny considered, "One can't be too careful, but it's still rude. We would have to worry about getting caught, too."

"Got that covered," Ron smirked, blissfully unaware that Shuichi had done the exact same thing just moments before. He held up four sets of Extendable Ears. Handing one to Harry, he turned to push his own under the door. Hermione resolutely refused the Ear that was offered to her, dragging Ginny upstairs before the girl could even consider accepting.

Ron knelt to slide his Extendable Ear under the door crack. However, he frowned and stood back up again. "What's wrong?" Harry queried.

"There's some sort of rubbery plant thing blocking the crack," Ron replied, scowling in annoyance.

"Well," Harry smiled. "That just proves that they're up to something."

* * *

"Hey, Kurama?" Yusuke asked in Japanese. "What is our mission, anyway?"

Said kitsune stared at him, sweating slightly. "You mean you don't know?"

"Nah," the punk grinned. "Pacifier Breath didn't tell me and Hiei nothin'."

"The toddler said you would explain," Hiei added.

"Figures," Kurama mumbled under his breath. "Oh well, I suppose I have no choice."

* * *

"Okay, Kurama, don't tell Yusuke and Hiei, but I am unofficially putting you in charge of this mission," the young ruler of Reikai informed the redhead.

"Why?" Kurama requested, confused. "Shouldn't it be Yusuke? I _am_ still on parole, you know."

"Normally it would. However, this latest mission involves infiltrating a school. I think that makes you most suited for the job," Koenma acknowledged.

"True. Why send Yusuke and Hiei, then?"

"Good question. About Yusuke, I have to put him to some sort of use, or my dad will question why I went to the trouble of hiring him. Second, I believe you might end up needing some back up. The latter is true about Hiei, as well," Koenma explained.

"So what is this mission, anyway, Koenma-sama?" Kurama asked, his curiosity piqued.

Koenma clicked his remote and brought up an image of a splendid western-style castle on the screen behind the fox. "This is Hogwarts," he informed Kurama. "I believe that you are aware of the small population of humans that have learned to amplify and channel their reiki using 'wands', and call it 'magic'." Kurama nodded in confirmation. "Hogwarts is a wizarding school in Britain. That, however, is not our problem." Koenma clicked the remote again, this time showing a picture of a snake-like man. "This is Tom Marvolo Riddle, more commonly known as Lord Voldemort. This man has been causing us a lot of problems here in Reikai. Not only has he been flooding us with innumerable spirits, he has also been attempting to evade his own death. Botan!"

The poor ferry-girl came through the door carrying a humongous tomb labeled _Reikai Laws, Vol. XXVIII_. She set it down in front of Koenma with a loud 'thump'. "Here you go, Koenma-sama," she said. With a tiny wave of greeting to Kurama, the blue haired spirit left the room.

Meanwhile, Koenma was paging through the thick volume. "Aha!" He exclaimed. "Reikai Law, No. 1,279,586, Vol. XXIVII, Sec. 12, Part 2… 'no human, youkai, or spirit shall in any unnatural way attempt to make themselves immortal, due to the massive amounts of paperwork it generates…'"

"So," Kurama paraphrased, "You want us to get rid of his means of immortality and arrest him for breaking Reikai law."

"Correct!" Koenma grinned, pleased with the kitsune's deductions. "And let me assure you that his punishment will be many times more severe than yours and Hiei's."

"What I don't understand, though," Kurama frowned, "is how this involves infiltrating a school."

"Hogwarts is a wonderful source of information. You can use it as a base while you go out and destroy Horcruxes."

"Horcruxes?" the bemused fox questioned.

"Yes. Pieces of Voldemort's soul." The toddler fumbled around in a drawer. "Here. Read this. It should explain." Koenma shoved a sheaf of papers into Kurama's hands.

"What will we be posing as? Teachers? Guards?"

"Nope," Koenma grinned, an innocent smile spreading across his childish face. "Exchange students!"

"What?" Kurama yelped. "But, Koenma-sama," he tried to keep himself calm and collected, "we won't have access to restricted material and we won't be authorized to the grounds in times of need."

"You think I haven't thought of that?" Koenma pouted. "The headmistress knows exactly who you are. She'll make arrangements."

"All right," Kurama replied.

"Dismissed," the tiny ruler informed him. The kitsune bowed and walked out of the room.

* * *

"So that's what we're doing," Yusuke said with a nod of his head. "Thanks for telling us Kurama, unlike _certain_ people. Coughkoenmacough."

"Hn."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "Yes, Hiei, we are going to have to say with the 'stupid humans.'"

Hiei glared.

"And no, you are not permitted to decapitate them if they annoy you. Now, Yusuke, tell me if you will about what Kuwabara-kun is up to."

"Well, according to the toddler, someone has to baby-sit back at home. Pacifier Breath also mentioned something involving 'less fighting' and 'stealth mission.'"

"Ah," Kurama said, needing no more explanation.

"Oi, Kurama!" Yusuke suddenly recalled something that had been bothering him for some time. "Why can't we just call you 'Kurama Minamino'? No one would know the difference," he pointed out.

"Actually," the kitsune corrected, "As Youko, I stole a rather valuable object from the school about 700 years ago. The name Kurama would not go by unnoticed."

"Really?" Yusuke asked eyes brightening. "What was it?"

Fortunately for Kurama, their conversation was then conveniently ended by Mrs. Weasley's cry of "Dinner is served!"**  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi and all related industries. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and all related industries. I make no profit off this work of fiction.

**A/N:** Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope this chapter properly explained what the Tantei are up to. Although I hate to admit it, this chapter was already complete when I started to post the story; I just took my time typing up my edits, blaming it on end of the semester school work and having to finish up a Solstice present for my younger brother. '

**Notes:**

-The reason why 'Kitsune' won't translate when Hiei uses it to refer to Kurama is that the potion can't figure out whether it's Kurama's name or not. Obviously, names aren't translated literally, so the potion decides to leave it as is. How if Hiei said, "Look at that kitsune!" it would translate as "Look at that fox!".

-About Kurama's theft…by my personal timeline, this occurred before Makai and Ningenkai were divided by the barrier. And since Hogwarts is 1,000 years old, and Kurama is even older…it's totally plausible.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The weeks preceding the start of term passed with out incident for the Weasleys and their guests. For the wizards, the only noticeable occurrences were the occasional visits of an Order member or two, including that of Lupin and Tonks, who had dropped by to announce their engagement. That proclamation had been followed by a marvelous celebration during dinner and many questions that pestered the happy couple about the wedding date.

* * *

For the Tantei, the placid days were interrupted merely by the few calls received from Koenma on Yusuke's communicator offering instructions and mission notes as well as messages from Kuwabara (_"You better not get into trouble without me, guys!"_), Genkai (_"Don't mess this up, Dimwit. And keep up with your training!"_), Yukina (_"How is your mission faring, Hiei-san, Kurama-san, and Yusuke-san?"_), and Keiko (_"How _dare_ you leave Puu with me, Yusuke!"_).

* * *

On the morning of September first, Kurama was up at dawn, already tapping Hiei lightly on the shoulder and attempting to shake Yusuke out of his heavy slumber. The three Tantei had all packed the previous day at Mrs. Weasley's urging, but with a train that left at 11:00 am without fail, it didn't hurt to get up early.

The kitsune also had some additional preparations to make. He had promised to provide theft proof (although he doubted it would have proved to be any problem for him), magic proof havens for certain items the Tantei would not appreciate the wizards getting their hands on, either accidentally or on purpose. Yusuke and Hiei had consented to let him handle the matter, for who knew locks better than a thief?

Kurama, although he hadn't finalized the idea, was considering taking a normal container, locking it with a password in one of the numerous Makai dialects and leaving one of his more possessive plants as an extra safeguard. Of course, he had faced (and defeated) many more challenging defenses during his time as Youko, but it should be sufficient against mere humans. In the meantime, however, he had to attempt to get the stubborn Yusuke out of bed.

"Come on, Yusuke!" he exclaimed, shaking the resilient spirit detective. Poor Kurama had attempted to remove the blankets, wrench the pillow out from beneath his head, buffet Yusuke with the pillow, and whisper insults that were sure to drive boy crazy. The only response the kitsune had received was a mumbled, "Leave me 'lone, Keiko…"

Kurama groaned and looked pitifully at Hiei, who had watched the entertainment from his windowsill vantage point, not bothering to conceal the amused smirk that flickered across his face. "I had no idea that humans could be so impossible!" the fox groaned, blissfully unaware of the fact that his mother had once had the same trouble awakening _him_ when he was younger.

"It's Urameshi; what do you expect?" Hiei smirked. "Let me show you how to do this." He hopped off the windowsill, snatching his katana from his bedside as he went. Unsheathing the sword, he approached the sleeping Yusuke.

The fire youkai pressed the katana blade to the Spirit Detective's throat. "Wake up _now_, Detective," Hiei growled. "Unless you wish to find yourself unable to get up at all."

The touch of cold steel against his throat seemed to do the trick for Yusuke; he literally flew out of bet at a speed Kurama didn't think possible for a human, or even most youkai. Yusuke was pointing a faintly glowing index finger at the impassive Hiei.

"Took you long enough," Hiei grunted, sliding the katana back into its sheath.

"That wasn't nice!" Yusuke whined, glaring venomously at the hiyoukai.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" Hiei retorted, smirking slightly at the spirit detective's annoyance.

Before the bickering could continue, Kurama interrupted to say, "Now, Yusuke, Hiei, what do you want me to store? I do need to know how large of a box to grow."

* * *

As it turned out, the only things that needed concealment were Hiei's katana, Yusuke's compact communicator, and a collection of letters. The other two watched as Kurama ran his fingers through his hair. Coming up with the appropriate seed, the fox set it to growing into a box long enough to fit the katana, but thick enough to hold all the other items. Under Hiei's indifferent gaze and Yusuke's awed one, the gnarly wood flourished and took shape. After the box had been created, Kurama removed another seed from his hair. This one belonged to a dark, thorny vine. The creeper wrapped itself around the box. It was carnivorous, so Kurama would have to remember to keep a steady supply of mice available.

"Okay," he announced, surveying his handiwork. "Now, I need you both to let the plant get a taste of your blood, so that I can tell it to memorize your taste and let you pass later. By the way, the thorns are hollow and filled with poison. It won't kill you, but it will paralyze you after a minute or so. I have an antidote here for after you let it bite."

Hiei approached first, letting the plant's thorny appendages wrap around his index finger, drawing a tiny red pearl of blood as the thorns sunk into his skin. As soon as Kurama commanded the plant to release his finger, Hiei hastily drowned the small vial of antidote the kitsune produced from seemingly nowhere. Already he could feel his joints beginning to freeze up.

Yusuke took his turn a bit more hesitantly, and released a startled yelp as the surface of his skin was broken. _Really_, Kurama thought as he handed Yusuke the antidote, his plant had done little more harm than a doctor's normal blood sampling.

Kurama used a little bit of his youki to ease the vine away from the opening of the box. He placed the vulnerable items inside and then packed the whole contraption away into his already stuffed trunk.

By this time, the sun, which was now filtering in through the parted curtain, had reached a slightly more respectable point on the horizon. "Why don't we head down for a bit of breakfast?" Yusuke suggested, grinning sheepishly as his stomach grumbled a bit in reply.

* * *

The Tantei found the kitchen abandoned, save for Mrs. Weasley, who was fixing breakfast, and Harry, who was sitting at the table, still half asleep.

"It's too early for you people to be looking so chipper," the boy complained, completely disregarding the fact that it was already 9:30 am as he shot a mock glare at the Tantei.

"Why are you up, then?" Yusuke demanded with a grin.

"Couldn't sleep," Harry replied shortly, apparently not willing to discuss the subject any further.

"Dreams?" Kurama questioned. Harry nodded reluctantly. "Ah." Kurama wisely remained silent. Although it pained the pride of his inner youko to admit it, he had had some nasty nightmares himself after the Ankoku Bujutsukai.

Mrs. Weasley butted into their conversation. "Breakfast is just about served," she announced. "Hiei, won't you be a dear and go wake everyone up?" Hiei had gained a notorious reputation for getting people out of bed and downstairs in five seconds flat. The fire youkai nodded and shot up the stairs, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye. Kurama sighed. No matter what he said, Hiei refused to control his speed. Fortunately, Kurama had managed to write it off as a weird genetic oddity. Most of the wizards bought it, but he wasn't so sure about Hermione.

Hiei had been gone for about a minute now. Considering that he had three people to wake, Kurama gave the fire youkai about _five…four…three…two…_ Ah! And here they were.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, tumbled down the stairs, shadowed by a smirking Hiei. The smell of burning hair followed them.

"Where's Dad?" asked Ron blearily, attempting to rub the sleep out of his eyes, but ended up missing and scratching his ear.

"He had to work overnight again," Mrs. Weasley replied distractedly, in the process of setting a plate heaped with thick strips of bacon on the table. "I'm afraid that he won't be able to accompany us to the station, either. Fred and George should show up, though."

"The ministry's been a mess ever since Dumbledore died," Ron said, nodding his head wisely as he dug into the food his mother placed on the table. "Everyone's freaking out. They figure that if the most powerful wizard in Europe can be killed, none of them are safe from You-Know-Who."

"I thought you said that Dumbledore was murdered by one of his own staff and that old Voldy-shorts wasn't even there at the scene of the crime," Yusuke frowned.

Everyone winced at the painful mangling of the Dark Lord's name. "That's why everyone's so nervous, Yusuke," Hermione explained. "If Professor Dumbledore could be taken down by someone like Professor Snape, who knows what V-Voldemort could have done."

Hiei snorted. "You all are just overreacting. It's foolish. Instead of worrying about some old man, you should be readying your own defenses, seeing as you are all clearly unprepared."

Mrs. Weasley shot him reprimanding look as she took her seat at the table. "It's not wise to talk like that, Hiei," she scolded, before returning to a discussion of popular wizarding music with Ginny.

Hiei muttered something under his breath that sounded like, "_Ningen no baka_," followed by several words that were _not_ fit for polite company.

"Yeah, it's not like _you_ would stand a chance against him," Harry told the irritated youkai. "And where did you here those words, anyway?"

Several days after their arrival, once all the vital information had been exchanged, Hiei had stopped taking the translation potion. For about a week, Kurama had had to translate for him until Hiei's youkai abilities were able to pick up the language, which took several weeks of complete immersion. Not that the wizards were aware of that, though. They believed that 'Shuichi' had been giving Hiei extra English lessons before going to bed.

Hiei simply snorted in reply. "Hn."

Mrs. Weasley, who had been paying attention to the teenagers' words despite her intense conversation with Ginny, now looked up and turned her attention to Ron.

"Did you teach him?" she demanded of the poor boy, despite the fact that he was shaking his head 'no' quite vehemently.

Hiei, for once, decided to take pity on Ron and come to his rescue. "I heard it from the detective," he informed the woman in a bored tone of voice.

The nickname 'Detective' had become another commonplace in the Weasley household after Hiei had accidentally slipped and used it to refer to Yusuke. Kurama had hastily covered up the mistake by explaining that Yusuke had an annoying habit of sticking his nose in other people's business, earning him the name "Detective" from his friends.

After Mrs. Weasley chewed Yusuke out for teaching Hiei English swearwords, the rest of breakfast passed without anymore untold happenings. Kurama did think that Mrs. Weasley had overreacted a bit, though. From his experience, that was the first thing kids picked up when learning a new language. For example, an American transfer student at his school who barely spoke a word of Japanese still knew more curses than he had heard used since he came to Ningenkai.

* * *

Just as everyone was finishing off the remains of their last home cooked meal before Hogwarts, Mrs. Weasley thought to take a glance at her watch. "Ah! It's far past time to leave!" she exclaimed frantically, shooing everyone away from the table and upstairs to retrieve their trunks. "Hurry! Hurry!"

* * *

Despite Mrs. Weasley's worries that they would be late, she and the seven teenagers arrived at King's Cross Station and slipped through the barrier to Platform 9¾ with nine minutes to spare.

To Kurama's surprise, the platform, although it was packed with bustling students and parents, possessed a slightly nervous and subdued air. Hidden not-so-inconspicuously in the shadows were numerous guards, cloaked in black, who were staring at each passerby, wands clenched beneath their robes, as if they were all suspicious dark wizards.

The Tantei, Ginny, and the golden Trio boarded the scarlet steam engine and began to look for an empty compartment, lugging their trunks behind them. Whispers followed them down the hall. Kurama supposed that since Harry was the one who witnessed Professor Dumbledore's demise and since Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were his best friends, it was only natural for them to be the subject of the curious murmurs. Also, because he, Yusuke, and Hiei were foreign faces clearly too old to be first years, they were sure to attract some attention as well.

Lost in his thoughts, Kurama almost rammed into Harry, who was walking in front of him, when the boy drew to a sudden halt, peering in through the frosted glass of one of the compartment doors.

"This one's empty!" Harry announced, tugging open the sliding door. They all piled into the compartment. After stowing their luggage away on the racks overhead, everyone settled down into their seats and prepared for the long ride ahead of them. Hiei and Ginny took the two window seats. Kurama, followed by Yusuke, sat beside Hiei, while opposite them Hermione sat closest to the door, Ron took the spot beside her and Harry squeezed in between him and Ginny.

Everyone got comfortable, Hermione and Kurama both pulling out books, Harry, Ron, and Ginny getting involved in a discussion of quidditch tactics, Hiei staring out the window in silence as the scenery flashed by outside, and Yusuke resigning himself to an incredibly boring train ride, since he had no interest in windows, books, or quidditch, and because Kuwabara wasn't there for him to argue or fight with.

Soon, however, Harry, Ron, and Ginny's conversation turned to the inevitable subject of the upcoming school year. This topic was interesting enough that it prompted Hermione, Kurama, Yusuke, and even Hiei to turn their attentions to the discussion and join in.

"This year is going to be so different," Ron groaned. "According to that poll that they mentioned in the Daily Prophet, one out of every three Hogwarts parents say that they aren't gonna let their kids come back to Hogwarts."

"Well, so maybe it'll be a bit emptier than usual, but is that necessarily a bad thing?" Ginny pointed out. "What _I_ want to know is who the new Defense professor will be. I hope McGonagall managed to find someone good this year."

"Hmph," Hermione snorted. "What we _should_ be wondering is who will be taking her place as transfiguration professor. She won't be able to teach anymore, now that she's the headmistress."

"I dunno," Harry said, "But I'm sure they won't let anyone bad get the positions."

"So." The conversation now turned to the Tantei. "What houses to you think you guys will be sorted into?" Ginny asked.

"Well," Kurama began. "Judging by the qualities that you've told us are exhibited by each house, Gryffindor being bravery, confidence, loyalty, Ravenclaw being intelligence and studious habits, Hufflepuff being loyalty, diligence, and hard work, and finally Slytherin being slyness, cunning, and ambition, I would probably say I would be a likely candidate for either Ravenclaw or Slytherin."

Yusuke frowned at the kitsune. "You don't give yourself enough credit, Shuichi," he said. "You could probably worm your way into Gryffindor with me! Now Hiei, he's definitely a Slytherin. All that 'I'm gonna take over the world' stuff, you know?"

At that remark, said hiyoukai just glared and snorted, "Hn. I think that the detective might be a Hufflepuff."

"Actually, Yusuke," Kurama interjected, "I think that Hiei could be considered a Gryffindor. He certainly is confident and he _has _displayed huge amounts of bravery in the past. I know for a fact that Hiei is also quite loyal; once he picks a side, he stays with it."

"Wow," Ron said, looking at the transfers with interest. "I don't think most people are quite so frank when discussing what house they'll go to."

"Well," Harry grinned, "I hope all three of you will join us in Gryffindor. You seemed to think it was a possibility for all of you."

* * *

The remainder of the train trip passed with out much further occurrence. The plump old witch who used to push around the food trolley had been replaced by a younger, more sullen one. They all pooled their money to purchase a mountain of sweets and other confections, which she handed to them with a bored, "Here you go."

To Harry, the ride seemed incomplete without the annual confrontation with Malfoy in their compartment. He supposed that it would just be one more change in the long line of changes he would have to adjust to, though.

As the sun slipped below the horizon, giving way to the gathering darkness, the train wheezed to a shuddering halt beside the platform of Hogsmeade Station. About forty-five minutes previously, a light drizzle had begun to descend from the sky. Now, the rain had picked up to a heavy sprinkle, splattering the ground as well as the disembarking students with heavy wet droplets.

* * *

Above the black masses of students, the bulky, looming form of Hagrid was visible, illuminated by the pale, flickering lights of the platform. To Harry's relief, it appeared that the half-giant had been able to remain at Hogwarts, despite the absence of the former Headmaster's protection.

As the older students began to gravitate towards where the thestral-drawn carriages were waiting patiently in a long, dark line, the tiny shivering first years looked around nervously, peering through the hazy drizzle, unsure of where to go until Hagrid's loud voice boomed out overhead.

"Firs' years! Firs' years, over here! Japanese transfuhs too! Firs' years an' Japanese transfuhs!" Hagrid waved the lantern he was toting over his head, the light and his size making him an easy to find destination for the new and confused students.

Hiei, Yusuke, and Kurama gave Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny their hurried farewells and pushed their way over towards Hagrid. The half-giant, after checking to make sure that at least the majority of his charges were present, led his flock towards what appeared to be some sort of a dock on a lake.

After giving a few basic instructions, Hagrid took a seat in the foremost boat, hanging his lantern on a hook that hung off the front.

The Reikai Tantei all gathered together in a boat, shifting around nervously as it rocked precariously beneath them, praying that it wouldn't capsize; they, with the obvious exception of Hiei, were all quite larger and heavier than the average first year.

As the boats began float silently across the lake under their own power, two youkai and one human mentally prepared themselves for the official start of their latest mission.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi and all related industries. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and all related industries. I make no profit off this work of fiction.

**A/N:** Chapter Four! By far the longest chapter yet. Almost 3200 words is definitely akin to a record for me. This encompassed the journey on the Hogwarts Express and the arrival at Hogsmeade Station. Next chapter shall be the sorting! I hope you don't mind that I skipped a lot of time, but I felt that writing out the whole three weeks spent at the Weasleys' was rather unnecessary. Also, I wanted to avoid saying this, but it seems to work when other authors do it: _Please read and review!_ By the way, I was considering making a side story telling about Youko's great robbery of Hogwarts. Tell me if I should!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The Great Hall bubbled with quiet chatter as the returning students took their seats, awaiting the arrival of the first years.

Harry sat between Ron and Hermione, who had begun to bicker over some senseless topic during the carriage ride up to the school. Ignoring the argument, he glanced up to the staff table, curious to discover who their new professors would be.

Professor McGonagall was dwarfed by the large chair that was reserved for the Headmaster or Headmistress. Her presence in the seat served only as a painful reminder to Harry of the school's loss the previous year. On McGonagall's right was an empty seat, most likely reserved for the new deputy head, Professor Flitwick, who was probably off dealing with the first years. On the Headmistress' left was a new face, although not one unfamiliar to Harry; Nymphadora Tonks, soon to be Tonks-Lupin. She looked resplendent with somber black hair that was drawn back into a long ponytail. It offset her pale, heart-shaped face quite nicely; clearly, she had chosen a more serious look in honor of her newfound teaching position.

On Tonks' left was another new face, this one completely foreign. The second new teacher was a man, probably in his late forties or early fifties. He had closely cropped dark brown hair and a beard, both of which were graying slightly around the edges. His grey eyes were stern and serious, set within a face that was not all too handsome, although not necessarily ugly.

The rest of the table was the same as always, with the exception of the noticeable absence of Severus Snape. The spot where the man had usually sat was now filled by Horace Slughorn, who had apparently decided to risk staying another year. Harry could only assume that Slughorn now had the duties of Slytherin Head of House, since he could not remember whether any other professors had been members.

"What's taking the midgets so long?" Ron groaned, clutching his stomach comically in distress. "I'm _starving_!"

It was true, Harry realized, as Hermione reprimanded, "Don't call them 'midgets', Ron. It's not polite." The first years _were_ taking their time in arriving. They must have been held up in the Entrance Hall, though, because Hagrid had come in several minutes previously and slid into his seat.

It seemed that Ron's words had served as a catalyst, for no sooner than he had uttered them, then the doors to the Great Hall swung open and a mass of black-robed children began pouring in.

* * *

As Kurama, Yusuke, and Hiei trailed up the broad steps to enter Hogwarts, a squeaky voice called out their names, summoning them over to where a diminutive old man was standing, having beckoned the Tantei towards him. 

"Ah, are you Hiei Jaganshi, Shuichi Minamino, and Yusuke Urameshi?" he questioned, peering nearsightedly at a roll of parchment he held in his hand.

They nodded disjointedly in confirmation.

"I'm Filius Flitwick, the Deputy Headmaster. Professor Flitwick to you, of course. Minerva has informed me that you three are really undercover guards, but we'll still have to sort you into separate houses in front of the school. I'm afraid it has been _quite_ some time since we've had to instigate the foreign exchange program. Now, where were those passes?" The man fumbled around in a pocket secreted within the numerous folds and creases of his robe. Coming up with three slips of paper, he handed one to each member of the Reikai Tantei.

"What're these?" Yusuke wondered as he looked at the paper. The translation potion was unable to translate writing for him; his textbooks had all been provided for him in Japanese.

"They're passes to allow you out past curfew," Flitwick explained. "That way you should have no trouble patrolling the halls. Just show it to a teacher if they try to stop you. Now, if you don't have any more questions, I really must go talk to the first years."

As the little professor hurried away, Kurama, Yusuke, and Hiei all looked at each other. After a moment's silence, Yusuke managed to voice the group's opinion. "Oi, Kurama. Is it just me, or did that brat Koenma never mention anything about _guarding_ the stupid school?"

* * *

The talk in the Great Hall died out as Professor Flitwick led the first years in, halting them in front of the Sorting Hat, which broke into a song describing the four houses. 

That completed, Flitwick pulled out a long roll of parchment and began to read out names, starting with "Aberman, Julie", who was promptly sorted into Ravenclaw. Sometime later, the sorting ended with "Yannin, Tori" being placed into Slytherin after a good deal of lengthy consideration from the Hat.

Professor McGonagall stood up and raised a hand for silence. "Now that the Sorting is complete, I have several announcements to make," she informed the school. "This year, we will be welcoming three exchange students from Japan into our school. I hope that you will welcome them into our society and make them feel at home. Now, we shall commence with their sorting, if you will, Professor Flitwick."

"Ahem. Jaganshi, Hiei!" the diminutive man called out.

Hiei stepped up to the stool, eyeing the ragged black hat with his fierce crimson gaze. He sat down on the stool and slid the hat over his spiky hair with surprising ease.

'_You're no ordinary student, I see. Your mental barriers are admirable; I can't see into your mind a bit. Unfortunately, however, you shall have to lower them if you wish for me to sort you,'_ the Hat informed the hiyoukai. Hiei seriously considered sending the old rag up in flames, or at least slicing it into tiny little pieces with his sword, which he soon remembered was inconveniently locked away in Kurama's trunk. His mind was a place that was considered to be extremely private; you try and get in without permission, you die. Or at least become seriously injured.

However, Hiei's conscience, which sounded suspiciously like Kurama, told him that for the sake of the mission, it would be best to let the Hat into his mind. Keeping this in mind – and eternally cursing Koenma for subjecting him to this torture – Hiei lowed his mental block.

'_Hmm…at first glance, one would definitely think you would be a Slytherin, wouldn't they?'_ the Hat considered thoughtfully, _'You definitely have the cruel, sly, cunning, and ambitious parts down. However, if you take a slightly deeper look, I can see that you're caring to those who are important to you, courageous when the need occurs and most certainly brave, loyal to a side once you pick one, and that, despite the front you put on, you would do almost anything for your friends if the situation arose.'_

'_Hmph,'_ Hiei thought to the Hat in reply. _'I don't care where you place me. Just wherever it is, do it quickly.'_

'_Now, now, don't rush me,'_ the Hat admonished. _'You'll be spending the year with this house; it doesn't pay to be hasty. Now what's this I see about a sister? Hmm…I think I know exactly where to put you now…_GRYFFINDOR!_'_

As the last word was shouted out loud, the hall broke out into applause, most concentrated from the table decked out in predominately gold and crimson shades.

Hiei slipped off the stool and walked over to said table, where Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were all cheering enthusiastically, although all four seemed a bit surprised that Hiei had made Gryffindor.

Over the noise that had exploded in the Great Hall, Professor Flitwick managed to somehow make him self heard shouting, "Minamino, Shuichi!"

* * *

When Kurama stepped up to take his turn being sorted, the Great Hall fell back into a respectful silence, but almost immediately broke out again in a flurry of excited whispers and giggles, mainly among the female population of the school, although a few boys had joined in as well.

Kurama slid the hat over his head, and it slipped over his ears, effectively blocking the murmurs that circulated the room.

'_My, my, you _are_ an interesting one, aren't you?'_ The voice in his head startled Kurama slightly, but he let no sign of it show. _'Almost as interesting as that other one, Jaganshi, only you don't try to block me out. Now, where to put you, though…?_

'_Hmm…you most certainly are intelligent, I'll give you that. However, most of your knowledge is gained from experience, and even though you do have an amazing mental capacity, you don't actively seek learning, although you do attempt to make the most from the situation presented. For that reason, I don't think you would belong in Ravenclaw, despite your genius._

'_Now, you are brave and would sacrifice your life for your friends any day, and very nearly have. However, you do so with a steady mind, calculating the effects and consequences, instead of rushing in with the blind faith of a Gryffindor._

'_I see that you are cold and calculating, and cruel and ruthless, traits that no Hufflepuff would ever posses. In that case, the place for you is…_SLYTHERIN!'

Applause erupted from the long table draped in sliver and green, although it came in rather scattered amounts from the other three houses, with the exception of Ginny and the Trio, who still clapped heartily for their friend, no matter what his house.

As the applause faded out of existence, Flitwick announced the last name on his extremely short list: "Urameshi, Yusuke!"

* * *

The Spirit Detective put the hat on with some misgivings, not positively sure as to what would happen once he did. 

Perched on the stool, he leapt slightly when the Sorting Hat's voice echoed in his head.

'_Ah, you're a bit different from the last two, aren't you?' _the Hat pointed out. As Yusuke opened his mouth to reply, the Hat hurriedly corrected him. _'No, merely think your words and I'll hear them._'

'_Well, I'm human, and Hiei and Kurama are both youkai, was what I was gonna say,'_ Yusuke explained.

'_I had gathered that much from their minds,'_ the Hat replied with a wry chuckle. _'Now, if we may get onto the subject of your placement…I must say that you are a good deal easier to choose a house for than your friends. Judging by the displays of courage you have shown of, and your clearly undying loyalty for your friends and companions, along with your tendency of not always thinking things through, I would say that you are definitely a…_GRYFFINDOR!'

Yusuke took off the hat and placed it back on the stool. He walked over to the cheering Gryffindor table and took a seat next to Hiei, who was glaring over towards where Kurama was being swamped by girls (the fox didn't seem too happy about it, either), and shunning all attempts at conversation his fellow Gryffindors attempted to strike up with him.

Professor McGonagall stood to make several last announcements before the feast started. "Welcome new, returning, and exchange students, to yet another year at Hogwarts. Before the feast begins, I would like to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is out-of-bounds to _all_ students, and that magic is banned between classes, as well as various items listed outside Mr. Filch's office door. I would also like to introduce two new professors who shall be joining us this year. Taking my place as Transfiguration professor is Nymphadora Tonks, an auror with wonderful credentials, who happens to be a metamorphmagus."

Tonks raised a hand in greeting to a warm round of applause as McGonagall introduced her, because she had the friendly, fun to know, air that permeated the air around her.

Now, all eyes were focused on the second teacher, the man. "This is Michael Cardille, also an Auror with amazing qualifications, who shall be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."

Once again, the Great Hall erupted in applause, accompanied by thrilled whispers.

"So who's this Cardille guy?" Harry asked Ron as they pounded their palms together.

"You've never heard of him?" Ron demanded, looking at Harry in disbelief. "Cardille's practically famous. One of the best Aurors of his time, but never rose very high in the department 'cause he was 'too sympathetic and compassionate to the enemy'. Old Crouch actually tried to get him arrested for it once. Never happened, though. I didn't recognize him at first; he's a lot younger in all the photos, but now I can see the resemblance."

"I can't believe he'll actually be teaching us!" Hermione exclaimed. The clapping had been replaced with talk as food appeared on the tables. "He'll be a wonderful teacher!"

"I wonder when we'll get to have his class," Ginny said, piling potatoes onto her plate, pointedly ignoring where Yusuke was ravenously digging into a piece of chicken on her left and where Hiei was watching the other boy distastefully while filling his own plate up with food.

"Well, we won't know till tomorrow, will we?" Harry pointed out, starting to select his meal. "Until then, all we can do is wait."

* * *

**Disclaimer:** YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi and all related industries. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and all related industries. I make no profit off this work of fiction.

**Notes:**

-Yes, I was too lazy to write the Sorting Song; poetry is _not_ my strong point.

-I hope my reasons for putting everyone in their respective houses was clear enough.

-Professor Cardille is pronounced CAR-deel. He won't be too important.

-Why is Tonks the transfiguration professor? She's a metamorphmagus, which (in my little world) gives her a natural talent for transfiguration.

-Why both Aurors? This satisfies everyone. The Ministry gets two of their people in the school, and the Order gets one of their members, two good professors, and two great guards.

-Please tell me if I'm making anyone too out of character. I want to know!!!

**A/N:** I am truly sorry that you had to wait this long. School started up again, along with all my lengthy extracurricular activities. That, coupled with my natural procrastination…go figure. Also, I recently had the final audition for All State Orchestra…I failed. However, since I've only been taking cello lessons for about two years, it's only to be expected. But, really, the point of all that was to say I have utterly no excuse for the lateness of this chapter.


	6. Interlude Valentine's Special

**Interlude – Valentine's Special**

_February 13th_

Kurama sighed as he glanced at the calendar… It was _that_ time of year again. With tomorrow would come a flurry of hearts, chocolates, and frilly pink cards. Girls would step up their 'fangirl-craze' to an even _more_ terrifying level.

Yes, tomorrow was Valentine's Day. It was possibly Kurama's – like any sane bishounen's – least favorite day of the year. The fact that he was currently at Hogwarts was unlikely to change anything. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if it made the situation wore. He had already acquired quite a fan base at the school, and it wouldn't surprise him to discover that his fan club back at Meiou Academy had managed to get their love letters forwarded to Hogwarts. And even worse…! His mother made him give _all _the girls who got him something White Day presents.

'_My pocket money will be depleted for months!'_ Kurama groaned mentally. It was a rather daunting prospect.

* * *

The morning of February the fourteenth dawned exceptionally bright and beautiful, although the glory of it was lost upon the Slytherin boys, since their dorms were located underground. Kurama had already risen an hour earlier and was just about to head down to breakfast. Blaise was only just waking up, and Crabbe and Goyle were still slumbering soundly.

Kurama quietly left the dorms, making his way to the Great Hall. He would eat quickly before escaping off to his first class of the day.

This plan had started to go wrong even before he had started to scoop eggs and sausages onto his plate. _Someone_ (Kurama suspected Yusuke, who would think it a fine joke) had informed what appeared to be all the girls in the school that 'Shuichi' tended to rise extra-early on Valentine's Day. Girls swamped him as soon as he sat down at his usual place in the Great Hall.

_Yusuke_, Kurama thought viciously_, you are _so _dead at training today._

Once he had managed to shake of the hoard of early risers, the breaking of his fast was once again interrupted by the coming of the mail. Owls poured in through the rafters, more than half of them directed towards the poor kitsune. Birds swarmed around Kurama, knocking over pitchers, upsetting dishes, scattering food.

Kurama was buried under a flurry of heats, chocolates, and frilly pink cards, just as he had predicted. Some other Slytherin boys who had come down to breakfast early as well, were looking at him with a mixture of jealousy and adoration, as were a large number of those from other houses. Yusuke, seated over at the Gryffindor table, seemed to be struggling horribly to hold in a terrible fit of giggles. _All the more reason to suspect him_, Kurama decided.

* * *

The 'plan' went even more wrong when Kurama remembered that his first period happened to be a free one, meaning that he could not seek refuge in class from the gaggles of girls who roamed the halls in alarming numbers.

Retreating to the library in hopes that the stern Madame Pince would scare away any stalkers, Kurama decided to sort out his mountain of cards, chocolates, and other Valentine's-paraphernalia. Maybe he could write the White Day gifts of as mission expenses and make Koenma-sama pay…?

"Hmm…Card, card, chocolate, card, card, homemade fudge, lollipop, money, love-potion spiked candy, firewhiskey…? But I'm underage… Card, card, this one's addressed to Hiei, candy, chocolate, Hiei, love-potion, Hiei…"

The list continued on and on, the pile of unread ones never seeming to shrink. A reasonable percentage were addressed to Hiei, seemingly because the girls were to frightened to give them to the hiyoukai outright. As he sorted, Kurama carefully made a list of all the senders and attempted to think of a generic, cheap, but heart-felt gift he could give out for White Day. Maybe a necklace or earrings…? But not all girls liked jewelry…

* * *

Yet another Valentine's Day ended with the setting sun, and Kurama relaxed into bed with a relieved sigh. One more year to go until the next day of torture… Well, there was the one month till White Day. Perhaps he _would_ charge Koenma for the return gifts. After all, if his calculations were correct, he had 2,345 to purchase.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi and all related industries. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and all related industries. I make no profit off this work of fiction.

**Notes:**

-White Day is celebrated mainly in Japan on March 14th, one month after Valentine's Day. On Valentine's Day, girls give out presents, while on White Day, boys hand out gifts. For more information, check Wikipedia.

-This is set sometime later in the story, all though it reveals no plot spoilers.

**A/N:** I had intended to get this out earlier, but better late than never shall have to suffice. Sorry about that. Chapter Six should be out soon. Hope this will satisfy you until then. Please ignore any mistakes. There was minimal time to edit.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

_(An up-to-date glossary can now be found in my profile!)_

Kurama eyed the Slytherin Common Room, careful to observe the minute details. On the way there, he had taken care to memorize the route, but if anything Harry, Ron, and Hermione told him was true, that path was likely to change from day to day.

The Slytherin dorms were located in the dungeons, contributing to the gloomy air brought about by the dark green and black drapery, highlighted only by the occasional streak of silver. Pansy, the simpering girl who had taken it upon herself to be his guide, pointed to a stone arch off to one side of the room. "That's the girls' dorm," she informed him. Swinging her arm off to the left, Pansy gestured at a second door frame. "That's the boys' dorms. The seventh year room should be the fourth door on the right. Bathroom is at the end of the hall." Kurama decided it would be best not to question how Pansy came to know this. "There should be a bit of extra room, too," the girl added, "since Draco and Nott…dropped out. You, Zabini, Crabbe, and Goyle are gonna get the place to yourselves." The drop in Pansy's volume when she said this informed Kurama that she was hiding some – possibly important – piece of information, but he decided to hold off any interrogations until later.

As Pansy bid him farewell and headed toward her dorm, probably to gossip among the other girls, Kurama drifted to his own

* * *

The dimly lit corridor—candles shed flickering light at regular intervals—gave off a cold, slightly foreboding air. Kurama noted the serpentine brackets attached to the walls as he walked, feet sinking into the lush green carpet with each step.

True to Pansy's words, the fourth door on the right had a silver seven in the center, accented by the dark ebony wood that surrounded it, a mirror image of all the other doors in the hall, numerals disregarded.

Kurama hesitated slightly before he reached his hand towards the doorknob. The pause was minute, barely noticeable by normal folk, but still present. Twisting the knob, he entered the room.

Kurama's first impression was that it wouldn't surprise him to discover that the dorm was furnished more extravagantly than many of the students' rooms at home. Soft, four-poster beds hung with dark green curtains called out seductively from each of the room's four corners. The floor was covered in the same carpeting as the hall. Each bed was accompanied by a gilt end table on the left that held a silver washbasin with an escorting pitcher. At the foot of each bed were the students' trunks, apparently brought in from the train at some previous time. Although no windows brought light in through the cold stone walls, the room was illuminated by glowing silver baubles that clustered around the ceiling.

It took Kurama a second or two to realize that he was not alone in the room. Another boy was sitting on the bed across from the door, already unpacking his belongings.

"Minamino, right?" the boy asked, a touch of arrogance slipping into his voice.

Kurama nodded once. "Yes, I'm Shuichi. And you are…?" His voice trailed off expectantly.

"Zabini, Blaise Zabini," Blaise replied. "Your bed is over there." He gestured towards the one closest to the door.

_Does he think I'm stupid?_ Kurama wondered. _I wouldn't have guessed. I mean, the only clue was my name _right there on my trunk_. It wasn't _really _that obvious._ Of course, he kept this piece sarcasm to himself and instead voiced the thought, "The other two belong to Crabbe, was it? And Goyle, right?"

Blaise grunted a silent 'yes', having begun to strew posters promoting one of the teams that played the popular wizarding sport quidditch across the room. "They're probably still down at dinner," he added as an afterthought.

Kurama opened up his own trunk with the silver key he kept safely in his pocket. _I wonder what Yusuke and Hiei are up to_, he thought. _Hopefully, Yusuke has managed to prevent (or at least made an effort not to provoke) Hiei from killing anyone._

* * *

Harry couldn't help but wonder if Japanese wizarding culture was all that different from Britain's. If the way the two new Gryffindors were acting was any indication, it most certainly was.

Both Hiei and Yusuke had been suspiciously jumpy when food had appeared on the table out of thin air during the feast, and had been equally surprised when it had disappeared, only to be replaced by dessert.

Now, as the trio led the two newcomers to the Gryffindor tower with Hermione in the lead, Harry noticed that, while neither gave away and significant signals of having missed out on a normal wizarding upbringing, there were some miniscule signs now, and if he thought about, in the past. For example, when they had first seen magic performed at the Weasley's, all three had struggled visibly to contain their shock. Harry had at first marked it off as their unfamiliarity with _western_ magic, but, upon consideration, it was still strange. Even at the present time, when the five walked through the halls of Hogwarts, Hiei was eyeing everything as if it were about to leap up and ambush him, while on the other hand, Yusuke was walking very nervously, shying away from moving paintings and the occasional passing ghost.

Strange. Definitely strange.

* * *

Hiei cursed violently as he entered the seventh year Gryffindor boys dorm, his (two-eyed) gaze coming to rest on his trunk.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked concernedly.

"Forget something?" Yusuke grinned evilly.

_Forget something?_ You bet he had forgotten something! _That stupid fox has my katana!_ And he hadn't gotten the opportunity to find out the Slytherin password yet, either.

Of course, that was probably what Kurama had intended all along. By now the sly kitsune had most likely devised a hiding place that would take Hiei weeks to uncover, even with the use of the Jagan. "Stupid kitsune…" he growled under his breath.

"Well," Yusuke announced, dropping onto his bed with a plop, that evil grin spreading even _more_ widely across his face, "It seems that _Shuichi_ has finally come to his senses and decided to deprive you of any sharp, pointy, and potentially _lethal_ objects for the duration of our stay."

Ron found this to be amazingly hilarious and burst out in laughter, prompted by Harry's barely suppressed chuckle.

Hiei, meanwhile, was plotting up with ways to murder Yusuke. "I don't _need_ any sharp, pointy, and potentially _lethal_ objects to murder you," he informed the tantei seriously. Poor Yusuke (not).

Yusuke's only response was to toss a pillow towards the little youkai.

"_These_ are the new transfer students?" Dean questioned disbelievingly, looking at the now squabbling boys. They had been briefly introduced during the feast, of course, but hadn't exchanged many words.

Neville watched nervously as Hiei and Yusuke engaged in a war of flying pillows and verbal assaults. Seamus had left (on his mother's strict command) only to be replaced by _these_ people?! '_Maybe I _should_ have listened to Gran_,' he thought sadly.

"Yup," Ron confirmed. "Real psychos, both of them. Yusuke's an idiot and Hiei's just scary. _Ouch!_" Two pillows soared on a collision course with his face.

"Why you little—! Come on Harry, let's get 'em!"

"What? Okay! Let's!"

"Pillow fiiiiiiiight!"

* * *

Breakfast the following morning was interesting, to say the least. The owls had flooded in through the roof bearing the mail—and class schedules.

Kurama eyed his, glancing over Monday's (breakfast, charms, transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs, then double potions with all houses, followed by dinner), before his gaze slid to today's schedule. Since September 1st had been a Monday, their first day of classes came to rest on a Tuesday.

_Shuichi Minamino  
Slytherin  
7th Year_

…read the schedule. Following this were Monday's classes, and then today's:

_Tuesday_  
7:00-8:50 Breakfast (Great Hall)  
9:00-10:50 Free Period  
11:00-12:50 History of Magic (Room 230-Binns)  
1:00-2:50 Lunch (Great Hall)  
3:00-4:50 Defense Against the Dark Arts (Room 607-Cardille) with Gryffindor  
5:00-6:50 Herbology (Greenhouse 6, Grounds-Sprout) with Ravenclaw  
7:00-9:00 Dinner (Great Hall)

Kurama frowned. Only one class together with Hiei and Yusuke? That didn't bode well. Neither had the self control or the desire to keep from causing trouble in their classes. _Oh well, I suppose that it will be fairly noticeable if part of the castle blows up_, he reasoned. _On the bright side, I do have Herbology today, and History of Magic ought to be interesting; I've probably lived through most of it._

* * *

Over at the Gryffindor table, Hiei and Yusuke were comparing their (identical) schedules with Harry and Ron, who incidentally had identical schedules, too. Hermione had the same classes as the four, and more, including Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. It was her brilliant suggestion that they go compare schedules with Shuichi. Everyone agreed, but hesitated to go approach the Slytherin table. Harry, Ron, and Hermione abstained for obvious reasons, Yusuke did because the trio did, and Hiei…well, Hiei snorted in disdain, grumbling something about stupid prejudices, and stalked over to where Kurama was sitting, reading his own schedule and munching on a piece of western food that Hiei still had difficulty recognizing.

He prodded the fox none too gently in the shoulder in order to grab his attention. Kurama was still not forgiven for withholding Hiei's katana.

Green eyes glanced up at the hiyoukai. _"Hai, Hiei?"_ Kurama asked in Japanese.

"Hn."

Kurama sighed before rising with a polite, "_Sumimasen,"_ to Blaise, who was chatting animatedly with Pansy (though as to why the boy would have any interest in that pug-faced _onna_ was beyond Hiei), and to Crabbe and Goyle, who were far to consumed by eating to notice the redhead's departure. The kitsune then followed Hiei to the Gryffindor table, eliciting several questioning stares from members of the other houses.

Hiei returned to his seat and Yusuke slid over to make room for Kurama. "_Ohayou!"_ Yusuke announced with tired enthusiasm.

"_Ohayou Yusuke_," Kurama replied with rather more energy than the detective. "_O-genki desu ka?_"

"_Hai, genki desu,_" Yusuke replied with a grin. "_Didn't sleep a wink! You?_"

"_I, like _most_ normal people, went to bed at a reasonable hour and had a good night's sleep,_" Kurama informed him, looking down at the shorter boy disapprovingly.

"_Spoil sport,_" Yusuke complained good naturedly as he returned his attention to his eggs.

"Hey! What are you guys talking about?" Ron interjected. "I can't understand a word you're saying!"

"Oh, sorry about that," said Kurama sheepishly. The three had all taken care to speak English while in the presence of native speakers during their three week stay with the Weasleys. However, the excitement of the previous night had caused them to drop back into Japanese again at first sight, forgetting momentarily that those around them couldn't understand.

"They introduced themselves and asked how the other was doing." The quiet comment from Hiei earned surprised glances from all present.

"Wow! I think that's the most I've ever heard you say at one time!" Ron exclaimed jokingly.

Kurama sweatdropped slightly as Hiei responded with a typical, "Hn."

Eyes turned to the fox for a translation. (Kurama had dubbed the official translator of 'Hiei-nese'.) He shook his head instead, declining the option of a reply. He didn't think it would do Ron any good to know that Hiei had meant, "That's the _seventh_ time you've said that already, you _baka_!"

Changing the topic, Kurama asked, "So, is there any particular reason you called me over here, Hiei? Or did you just tire of being near Yusuke?"

"Hn."

"Ah, yes. Schedules. What classes do you have?"

Yusuke scrambled for his schedule, which had somehow found its way under the table and into Harry's schoolbag.

"Free period, Herbology, lunch, Defense – hey, we have that with you! – and then History of Magic before dinner," he recited, reading off the juice-stained parchment.

"Me and Ron are the same," Harry added, "and so is Hermione, but she has Arithmancy first period."

"Hey, since we all have a free period after breakfast, why don't me and Harry show you around the school?" Ron suggested, struck by a rare moment of inspiration.

Yusuke opened his mouth to answer, most likely to decline (Kurama suspected that he wanted to return to bed), only to be cut off.

"Actually," Kurama replied hastily, "I was just thinking of doing a bit of exploring myself."

Turning to Yusuke, he hissed rapidly in Japanese. "_Baka. If we're going to protect the school, we have to know the layout, and who better to learn it from then students who have attended for almost seven years?_"

"_Shimeta, shimeta,_" Yusuke groused. "_I see your point._"

"Hn. I accept, but isn't it time for you to leave?" Hiei informed Hermione pointedly.

Glancing at her watch, Hermione let loose fearful shriek, causing not only Kurama (who had the most sensitive ears by far), but all present to cover the aforementioned appendages in pain.

"Aaah! It's already 8:55! I can't be late for my first day!"

"Mental, that one," Ron informed Harry seriously as Hermione vanished in a flurry of papers. "But I do suppose that it's time to go."

It was true, Kurama realized. As Ron spoke, the food began to vanish from the five lengthy tables.

Harry and Ron stood up, shadowed by the Tantei. "Er…" Harry begun nervously as he noticed the transfers' eyes all resting upon him. "Where do you guys want to go first?"

"Perhaps a basic overview of the inside of the school, including where all our classes will be, as well as other important landmarks?" Kurama suggested.

"Hn," Hiei added.

"Yes," the kitsune agreed. "Showing us all the entrances in and out of the school, as well as various points where and intruder could manage to sneak in would be helpful as well."

Harry looked at them a bit oddly at this comment, but the mood was shattered the instant that Yusuke broke in saying, "And the kitchen, don't forget the kitchen!"

Ron grinned in concurrence. "Righto, mate! To the kitchens!"

Harry groaned and said, "Just be glad Hermione isn't here."

"Yeah," Ron agreed seriously. "She'd be going on and on about not 'exploiting the house elves.'"

"What's a house elf?" Yusuke wondered.

"Magical creatures that are bound to wizarding families or institutions. Make wonderful cooks and are downright helpful around the house," Ron explained. "Hermione thinks that just because they don't – and don't want to – get paid for their work, they're slaves."

"Yeah," Harry said, nodding his head vigorously. "Hermione thinks that Britain should be more like America. They outlawed house elves back in the late 1800s, right around when the muggles were having their civil war."

Ron shot his friend a strange look. "How did you pick _that_ up, mate? I thought you didn't take those sorts of views."

Harry gave Ron an equally strange look. "Hermione was sprouting off about it all summer. How could you not remember?"

"Oh." Ron grinned sheepishly. "Forgot." He then turned suspiciously to Yusuke. "How come you don't know about house elves, anyway?" he demanded. "They're pretty common."

Kurama hastily intervened. "We actually don't have any in Japan. Instead, spirit-summons generally do the work. Because of Japan's long isolation, we don't possess many of the more common magical beings."

This seemed to satisfy Ron, at least temporarily. He never had stopped jumping upon the tiny peculiarities that the foreigners occasionally revealed.

By this time, the group had already made their way towards the basement, and were currently traipsing past a row of empty, unused classrooms when Kurama noticed the faint buzzing generally attributed to a cellphone on vibrate coming from his pants pocket.

Recognizing almost instantly what it was, Kurama hastily excused himself, although he probably could have tried for a rather more subtle manner.

"Erm, excuse me, but I just realized that there is something _terribly_ urgent that I must discuss with Yusuke and Hiei."

"Uh, sure–" began Ron, but was cut off by Kurama.

"In _private_, if you don't mind," the fox added hastily, grabbing his companions by their wrists and dragging them into one of the empty classrooms, firmly shutting the door behind him.

"_What was that for?_" Yusuke demanded indignantly in Japanese. Hiei was carefully brushing himself off.

"_This_." Kurama's abrupt comment was expounded upon by his removal of a round compact from his pocket. It was vibrating furiously in his palm.

"_Oi! That's one of Koenma's communicators!"_ Yusuke exclaimed. "_I lost mine a while ago. I didn't know you could set them on vibrate!"_

Hiei rolled his eyes. "_And what does the brat have to say that requires such an obvious breach of cover?_"

Kurama glared at his friend. "_I was getting to that. Koenma-sama contacted me several days ago saying that Botan and George had come up with a rather important piece of information, and that he would call me back as soon as they had cross-referenced it to check the accuracy._"

"_Hn._"

Kurama flipped open the compact communicator. "_Moshi moshi._"

"_Kurama!_" The face of the toddler ruler of Reikai appeared where a mirror would normally reside. "_What we–" _("_You mean Botan and George,_" Yusuke grumbled.) "_–discovered is very important to your mission!_"

"_Hai?_" questioned Kurama. "_And that is…?_"

* * *

"I can't hear a word they're saying, can you?" Ron complained to Harry. Both boys had their ears pressed to the door of classroom No. 128, attempting to listen in on the conversation that was being held within to no avail.

"Well, it's more of that I can hear it, but can't understand a word," Harry explained, grinding his teeth in frustration.

"Same here," Ron agreed.

"I keep hearing the name 'Kinmasama' that we heard a couple times this summer. And 'Button'. And 'George', too. 'Kooma' has been mentioned a few times as well."

"But it doesn't do us any good if we don't know who these people are though," Ron sighed. Then he brightened, listening closely. "I just heard your name, too, Harry!"

* * *

"_Well, I was going through some of our records, when I came upon an interesting anomaly,_" the demi-god explained. "_I decided to check and see if it was a mistake or was really true. Turns out it was._"

"_Well?"_ Hiei demanded. "_What did you find out?"_

"_I'm afraid I'm going to have to add another task onto your workload for this mission, guys,_" Koenma apologized, his tiny face on the screen the very epitome of sorrow.

"_Just get to the point! Okay, Pacifier Breath?_" Yusuke exclaimed angrily, the suspense clearly killing him.

"_Fine,_" Koenma sniffed haughtily. "_If Harry Potter is not dead by Voldemort's hands or through some other means by the end of the year, you are ordered to kill him._"

…

"_Nani?!"_

"…!"

"_I must have misheard you, Koenma-sama,"_ Kurama said slowly, the look of shock on his face mirroring that of Yusuke, and surprisingly enough, Hiei. "_I swear I thought you just said that we were now supposed to _murder _Harry Potter._"

The small artificial image nodded sadly in confirmation, "_I'm afraid so,_" he said. "_You have no idea how many times I had Botan and George double check._"

"_Please tell us what brought this about,_" Kurama suggested, his eyes narrowing suspiciously to glare at Koenma.

"_Well,_" Koenma began, "_I was looking at the death records for 1981 when I noticed a mistake. One person was listed who I knew for sure was not dead, and another was missing who had been killed._"

"_Who were they?_" Yusuke inquired with interest.

"_Harry Potter was marked for death by Lord Voldemort. Instead, the death of Lily Potter occurred._"

This last comment earned confused glances from all present tantei. "_Why did your ferry girls not realize the mistake the instant it happened?_" Hiei demanded at last.

"_All they were told was that there would be one death among the Potters on October 31, 1981_," Koenma explained. "_The ferry girl for that region had no way of knowing that she had ferried the wrong spirit._"

"_If Lily died instead of Harry, then what was _supposed_ to happen?_" Kurama wondered thoughtfully.

"_Lily would take Voldemort's offer to spare her life, allowing Harry to die instead. After killing the infant, the Dark Lord would have fled the house, only to encounter Sirius Black. In a fight to the death, the two would ultimately die. Albus Dumbledore would hunt down and destroy all of Voldemort's Horcruxes before eradicating the fraction of his soul still in existence. Lily would fall into despair over the loss of both her husband and son, becoming an alcoholic and drug addict before denouncing magic, moving in with her sister, and eventually committing suicide at the age of 36. But all of that changed when she decided that Harry's life was worth more than her own."_

Hiei, Yusuke, and Kurama all stared at the communicator in a shocked state of silence. "_Wait a second,_" Yusuke said suddenly, breaking the thick silence. "_All of that is in the past. Since it's already happened, what will killing Harry now do to change it?_"

Koenma shook his head. "_You don't understand, Yusuke. The balance is all out of whack. Voldemort, who should be dead, is killing indiscriminately in order to reach Harry, who should also be dead. People who should live are dying, and those slated for death are still among the living. It's simply havoc._"

Kurama frowned. He got the logic, but the solution made him no happier. "_I understand._"

Yusuke turned his glare towards the fox. "_What! Are you kidding? I mean, the kid can be a brat, for all that he's older than me, but that's still no excuse for killing him!_"

Kurama glared. "_I said I understood the reasoning, _not_ that I particularly approved of the plan. However, the task still needs to be done._"

"_But—_" Yusuke protested.

"_Shut up, Tantei_," Hiei growled in annoyance as Koenma cleared his throat nervously.

"_Glad you see my point of view, Kurama. I take it that you'll be the one to perform the deed? Wonderful! I'll be sure to make an exception for the no killing of humans law— Eeep!_"

"_I said I understood the importance of it, _not _that I was in any way supporting the child's death. I do not mind standing by as the Dark Lord kills him, but I will not do it myself. I may be a murderer, but I am not a killer of children. Do you understand me,__brat?_" Kurama's voice had sunk an octave, matching the yellow flicker of his eyes. The changes shocked his audience.

"_H-hai…_" Koenma stuttered nervously.

"_Good."_ The words came out as a low, threatening growl that was obviously meant to invoke fear in the mind of the listener. And if Koenma's input held any weight, the snarl sure worked.

Then, Kurama shook his head as if to clear it, his demeanor lightening noticeably. Hiei noted that the fox also appeared to loose a good few inches of height, as well as a few silver hairs that had prematurely appeared in a matter of seconds.

"_I'm sure that Harry and Ron are waiting for us outside. We ought to continue this…conversation later,_" he announced, voice having returned to its normal pitch.

Hiei and Yusuke both nodded in agreement.

"_Sayonara, Koenma_," Kurama told the demi-god.

"_Until next time,_" Koenma agreed, still on edge after the strange occurrence.

"_Hai, until the next._" Kurama flipped the communicator shut with a sharp 'snap', effectively saying goodbye. He then followed Yusuke and Hiei as they left the room to rejoin Harry and Ron. He only hoped that he would be able to keep the worry and unsettledness he felt away from his face.

A literal world away, Koenma sat at his desk, thinking hard. "_Youko Kurama…_" he mumbled, lost in thought. "_Botan!_" he called, a sudden moment of inspiration illuminating his mind.

The blue-haired ferry girl came rushing to her master. "_What is it, Koenma-sama?_"

"_Research the effect of large concentrations of reiki on demonic possessions,_" he requested seriously, his tone of voice just short of what could be considered a snap. "_Now, please._"

"_Ossu!_"

* * *

**White Day Omake**

"What is the meaning of this, George?"

The poor oni winced, faced by the wrath of the irate ruler of Reikai. Koenma was currently surveying the mission bill that was sent to him every month by Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke.

"The meaning of _what_, Koenma-sama?" George queried nervously.

"This bill lists a total of costs for February as being 1,386,453.83 yen! That's about 1,268,224.38 yen over their monthly budget!" 

"Perhaps it's a typo," George suggested uneasily.

"I doubt it," Koenma growled angrily. "Kurama sent this note." He thrust a piece of paper under George's nose. "Read it."

George carefully unfolded the letter, which was written on thick, old fashioned parchment, wondering what horrors it could contain to make Koenma-sama so mad.

"_Dear Koenma-sama,_" George read aloud. "_This Valentine's Day was fraught with numerous dangers. I very narrowly missed being killed by a large pile of letters which included drugged candies, explosive envelopes sent by childish adversaries, and love-notes filled with sickeningly sweet mush that was enough to make one faint. Because of this, I decided that it was appropriate enough to pay for White Day gifts with the mission budget. Sincerely, Kurama,_" George finished. "Well, he _does_ have a point," the oni mumbled under his breath.

"And the kitsune is supposed to be the responsible one!" Koenma despaired miserably. George sighed in relief, hoping that his less-than-submissive reply had escaped his liege's notice. His hopes were dashed, however, when Koenma now looked up sharply and demanded, "What was that, George?"

"N-nothing!" he exclaimed nervously.

Koenma just sighed and shook his head. "Dad's gonna kill me."

* * *

**Disclaimer:** YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi and all related industries. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and all related industries. I make no profit off this work of fiction.

**Notes:**  
-Thanks to Alishah, Sarah, and Eric for doing a bit of proofreading!  
-Sorry if this story has been too Kurama-centric for some. (Has it?) It just so happens that he tends to be the easiest character for me to write.  
-I actually wrote up a schedule for both Slytherin and Gryffindor 7th years. Yes, I do have a life, contrary to how it may appear.  
-Yes, 9/2/1997 _was_ a Tuesday. I checked.  
**-I am looking for a beta reader! **After all, I am only human, and we all make mistakes. Unfortunately, I cannot spot them all, as I have noted during a few of my rereads. If you are interested, please, tell me. _Doumo arigatou gozaimasu!_ (Thank you very much!)

**A/N: **I'm so sorry for the lateness of this chapter; one week turned into three! I do have a valid excuse, though. Last week was not only a big orchestra performance for which we received a score, but also the culmination of several months of rehearsal for a ballet performance. Our company did Graduation Ball (Johann Strauss II). I had multiple after school practices for each that left me far too tired to write afterwards. Now, enough of my sob story! My goodness! I reread the interlude, and trust me when I say to expect an _edited_ repost sometime soon! It was _horrible_!! Hopefully this chapter makes up for what you had to endure. And yes, I am reposting the glossary in my profile. As the story progresses, I will add on to it.

**Attention! Reader Challenge!!**  
"Harry and co. research Horcruxes." That was an extra special sneak-peak at what is currently on my "to do list" for this fic. Not very descriptive, ne? Now, I have a request. I need four months (from September to Christmas break) worth of plotless filler chapters _while_ Harry and co. research Horcruxes. Thus, the challenge. Send me your ideas for events you would like to see happen during those four months. These can be anything, and I'm not gonna be too picky. It can be anything from Yusuke challenging the giant squid to a duel to Hiei ganging up with Peeves and almost burning the castle down. In fact, why don't we see if we can change that "general" category into "humor"! Now, if I get the response I hope, I will have too many ideas to use. Just know that I appreciate all of them, and would use all if I could (and maybe I'll be able to!). Please help me; this will cut back on update time, since I won't have to waste the time I could be writing thinking up ideas for a filler chapter or four.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

_Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I'll update, tomorrow! It's only a day away! Sorry, guess all the Annie rehearsals are getting to me._

"What was that all about?" Harry demanded as Hiei, Shuichi, and Yusuke emerged from the empty classroom.

"Yeah!" Ron inserted, his suspicion clear in his voice. "We heard raised voices. Were you all arguing in there, or something?"

"Actually," Shuichi corrected with a nervous chuckle, Hiei and Yusuke watching the other boy warily, "I had received a letter from our old, er, _headmaster_ last night and found it to contain some very important information. I only just remembered, so I had to talk to Yusuke and Hiei immediately. However, we were in slight…disagreement…over the contents of the note."

Hiei snorted contemptuously at this comment. "That's an understatement," he muttered.

In Harry's opinion, it hadn't been necessary to leave the scene; if they had spoken in Japanese, he and Ron wouldn't have been able to understand a word, anyway, unless Shuichi had just considered that speaking in a foreign language in front of their friends was simply impolite. He also noted that throughout the entire hurried explanation, all three of the foreigners staunchly—and suspiciously—refused to meet his eyes, attempting to focus their gaze on anything but his face, including the worn patch of wall behind him.

Before Harry and Ron could continue the interrogation with some of the questions that they were aching to ask, Shuichi wrecked their plans by saying, "Why don't we continue our tour? Unless my watch is wrong, we still have over an hour left."

"Where to, then?" Harry asked wearily, sounding slightly defeated. The mystery of the Japanese exchange students, which no longer seemed as farfetched as Hermione had originally made it out to be, would have to wait until a later date, but it certainly wouldn't be forgotten.

* * *

The tour continued on around the castle, but the mood had darkened considerably compared to its start. The change bewildered Harry and Ron, who couldn't fathom what had been contained in the foreign headmaster's letter to have such an effect on his students. Fortunately, the dreadful silence that ensued as they wandered through the quiet and for the most part, empty, halls of Hogwarts was broken by the loud, raucous ringing of the bell indicating that first period had ended and that it was time for students to rush to their next class.

The small group walked with Shuichi to Slytherin's first class of the year, History of Magic. "Er—so I guess we'll leave you here…" Harry was rather hesitant, not entirely sure of the proper way to address the boy after the mysterious incident earlier that day.

Much to his great relief, Shuichi gave a grateful, and even more importantly, _genuine_ smile. "_Doumo arigatou_," he said graciously. "Thanks a lot."

"Erm, okay," Harry stuttered, stumbling over his own words. Was it truly so surprising that this was the first eye contact that either Shuichi or his two friends had made with Harry or Ron since the previous…occurrence? "Well, see you later—at lunch, I suppose. We're gonna go meet up with Hermione out at the greenhouses now."

"Bye, Yusuke, Hiei, and you, too, Harry and Ron," Shuichi called back, one hand already on Room 230's doorknob.

As the remaining Gryffindors hurried down the hall towards the staircase—they still had two floors and a good deal of lawn to traverse—Harry could have sworn that he heard Shuichi mumble something along the lines of, "Now, as long as Binns-hakase doesn't decide to cover 'Youko Kurama's Grand Theft of Hogwarts!' today, or even more preferably, all year, I should do fine…"

'_There's that "Kurama" name again,'_ Harry thought. _'I should ask Hermione to look him up when she goes to research Horcruxes.'_ Shaking his head at stupid could-be-leads that refused to leave his brain alone, Harry hurried to catch up with the rest of the gang.

* * *

Urameshi Yusuke's first impression of the Herbology greenhouses was, "Kurama would love this."

Six massive glass structures were situated in a neat 3 by 2 rectangle on the precisely trimmed green grass of the lawn. They were systematically labeled from '1' to '6' with large, very visible, white numbers on their doors, emphasized by the predominately green background. This type of classification also seemed to refer to the number of safeguards applied to each. Greenhouse 1, for example, was secured by a simple muggle padlock, if you ignored the anti-alohamora charm placed upon it. It served its purpose against ordinary wizarding children, unless—though Yusuke seriously doubted it—any of them could pick a lock. However, the ominous Greenhouse _6_ was covered with everything from, locks, bolts, and chains, to what, for all apparent purposes, seemed to be an invisible, magical shield that was simply _crackling _with energy. It would appear nonexistent to the majority of the students, but although Yusuke's spirit awareness was obviously no match for Kuwabara's, it was a great deal more finely honed than that of most of his peers.

Behind the clear glass of Greenhouse 6 that was designed for maximum photosynthesis processes, as well as preferable temperature and humidity regulation, a wide variety of flora was visible. Though the landscape was predominately green, the swath of color that cut through it was remarkable. If one were to judge by appearance alone, it would be easy to tell that the greenhouse contained everything from venomous, thorny vines to delicate flowers of healing.

Thus the comment, "Kurama would love this." _Unfortunately_, Yusuke had made this statement out loud. _Fortunately_, Yusuke recognized his mistake almost immediately. "Uh, I mean _Shuichi_ would love this!" However, it was still not soon enough to dissuade the questioning looks sent his way by Harry, Ron, and even Hermione.

"Yes," the aforementioned girl agreed, her voice absolutely _dripping_ with liquid suspicion (—Golden Trio's Magical Mix: Drink It, Ladle It, Do As You Wish!—), "Shuichi _has_ proven himself to have quite an affinity for plants, wouldn't you agree, Harry, Ron?"

"Erm, yes, I suppose he has," the two boys echoed disjointedly. Truthfully, they had noticed nothing of the sort, besides the fact that Mrs. Weasley's garden had seemed unusually organized after the other boy's stay.

"The kitsune's personal preferences disregarded, it would appear that Sensei has arrived."

Hiei's short comment brought the curious trio's gazes up to the narrow alley between Greenhouses 5 and 6. There their teacher, the plump old Professor Sprout, was awaiting the attention of her chatting class.

"Ahem!" Professor Sprout cleared her throat in a manner that, to the great relief of her students, was not at all reminiscent of the former Professor Umbridge as she waited for silence to overcome her students.

As the class quieted down, the professor began her beginning of the year lecture.

"Welcome back everyone, and congratulations on making it to your seventh year and Advanced Herbology. I even more so applaud your bravery for returning to school in such dangerous times. However, I must tell you that this year, I will not tolerate any more of the playing around that has occurred in my class up till now. This precaution is merely for your own safety. I _have_ had accidents occur in this class, and let me say that they were _not_ pretty. Greenhouse 6, the one that you are about to enter, contains my most dangerous and powerful plants. Some here I am allowed to keep with only very strict, regulative permission from the Ministry." With that said, Professor Sprout withdrew her wand from the folds of her dirt-smudged robe and carefully undid the safeguards surrounding the greenhouse.

As the teacher ushered them in, Yusuke murmured to Hiei, who had fallen into step beside the tantei, "How much do you wanna bet that Kurama's gonna be collecting seeds from half the stuff in there when he has Herbology?"

In response, Hiei replied, "If you're worried, I am willing to spar with him first."

"Hey, if you guys are done talking," Ron interjected, "we're supposed to start de-thorning the venomous dart-shooter plant. In pairs." He was with Hermione, while Harry had been lucky enough to grab the Herbology-minded Neville.

After one look at the green, goop-oozing plant, with its serrated leaves sharp enough to sever bone, Yusuke turned to Hiei and said, "Midgets first."

* * *

"Ahem, class. We will, uh, be discussing, erm, the history of Hogwarts this year. We will begin with, uh, major breaches in, er, security, following up with, um, famous headmasters and notable graduates…"

Professor Binns' voice droned on, oddly echoing within the History of Magic class room. Fortunately, it served to mask the strangled groans of one redheaded student.

'_I have the worst luck, don't I?'_ Kurama wondered as his teacher continued on about the year's course aims. _'Breaches in security mean thefts, and thefts mean thieves, and thieves mean…wait for it…'_

"We, will, er, be starting the year off with the study of Youko Kurama and several other thieves, who, throughout Hogwarts' history, have…"

'…_ME! Do you truly hate me this much, Inari?'_

Binns' voice went on to boast of Hogwarts' defenses, and then proceeded to tell of some insolent and vain demons—_'Oi, I'm not _that_ bad!'_—who were bold enough to breach the illustrious Hogwarts' grounds—_'What! I had to make a living _somehow_!'_—and then proceeded to _steal_ some of the castle's most sacred treasures. _'Hmph! They were _asking_ for it!'_

Meanwhile, Kurama was attempting to sink into his seat, torn between embarrassment over the whole situation, relief that Hermione was the only member of the curious Trio still taking the course, and attempting to struggle to contain the Youko-ish side of him who wanted to jump up and correct the Professor saying, "_That's not how it happened!_" Really, the ghost had a knack for making even the most wonderfully exciting events seem mind-numbingly boring.

Poor Shuichi attempted to uphold his image of 'perfectly attentive student' for a few seconds more before giving in and following the example of his fellow classmates, who had nearly all sunk into their seats with their books propped up on their laps, reading material of a slightly…different content secreted within.

Kurama himself surreptitiously slid the latest issue of _Shounen Jump_ out of his schoolbag (Kuwabara mailed new issues to the other Reikai Tantei weekly) and dug into the thick volume of manga. He did feel a small bit of guilt mixed with remorse, but he knew the subject from back to front, probably a great deal more than the professor himself.

So it couldn't hurt, could it?

* * *

Meanwhile, Hiei and Yusuke weren't faring much better in terms of luck. Quick reflexes and a good deal of shouting had resulted in the following score of venomous dart-shooter plant: 11, Tantei: 2. Translation: Hiei and Yusuke had managed to remove two thorns…but the plant had landed eleven hits, the deeper four of which had required Professor Sprout's immediate attention with a beaker of antidote.

Off to their left, Harry and Neville had ended up faring a bit better. Their de-thorning was almost half-way done, and neither sported any major blemishes.

On their right were Ron and Hermione, who seemed to be arguing over the proper way to remove the most thorns with the least amount of pain. All the same, they had still managed to get farther than the unfortunate Hiei and Yusuke by three additional thorns.

The required process involved catching the thorns with a small screen reminiscent of an embroidery hoop. This was fairly difficult because the plant could shoot any number of thorns in any direction, which made it impossible to catch them all. As the thorn passed through the screen, the venom was drained into a small vial, while the now (mostly) harmless spines dropped into an attached sack.

Currently, the clock at the back of the greenhouse, which was partially submerged in leafy green vines, stated that there were about fifteen minutes left of class. Yusuke and Hiei were sadly facing what looked to be a failing grade for class participation on their first day. Even some of the more unfortunate students had fared better than the pair. "_This is ridiculous!_" Yusuke complained in Japanese. "_You're a youkai and I'm a reikai tantei. We ought to be faster and more attuned to dodging and catching pointy objects than anyone else in here!_"

"_Agreed,_" Hiei growled, attempting to ignore the stinging pain from a shallow cut on his cheek. "_And what do you propose that we do about it, Tantei?_"

Yusuke thought for a moment, subconsciously ducking to the side of a thorn that the plant sent whizzing his way. "_I know! Let's propose a competition! The one who collects the most thorns by the end of class wins! Looser has to face Kurama first after Herbology!_"

"_Hn. Don't see what you're so worried about. After all, the plants in here are only from Ningenkai. I assure you that the kitsune has far more dangerous ones from Makai secreted within his hair. But all the same, I accept._"

"_Ready… Set…_" Yusuke grinned. "_Go!_"

* * *

"Minnymiyo!"

It took Kurama a few minutes to recognize Binns-hakase's awful mangling of his name. When he did, however, he shot up straight in his seat, one hand carefully slipping _Shounen Jump_ back into his schoolbag.

"Ah, would you care to enlighten us on how historians believe that Youko Kurama managed to get past Hogwarts' defenses?"

'_Ah, good. That's a simple one,_' Kurama thought, relieved. Out loud he recited, "Youko Kurama is believed to have entered the school through a secret tunnel leading from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade Village. The tunnel was designed so that a messenger could escape without notice if the school was under siege. Because of this, it could not have had any of the numerous wards against _youkai_ and the like, for although effective, any _youkai_ or enemy wizard could pick up on their scent a mile away. It is believed that Kurama entered somewhere between the two official entrances, while out of sight from both school and town."

Professor Binns stared down at the ex-thief through dead, tired eyes. "Huh? Young man—Mayomana, was it?—I have no idea where you heard of such a preposterous thing! I can assure you that no such tunnel was ever built."

'_Eeh?!_' Kurama gasped. '_You mean they never figured it out? I was sure that they would have gotten it by now; I didn't really bother to disguise _how_ I got in…or out, for that matter._' "I'm sorry, Professor, I must have confused this for something else. Could you tell me the correct answer, please?" _'It'll be interesting to see what ridiculous stuff they managed to come up with._'

"Ah, yes…We think that Kurama, being a kitsune--" '_It's _youko_! I'm way more powerful than a kitsune!'_ "—who are known to possess shape-shifting abilities—" '_That's a stereotype, and we all know that stereotypes are bad. I, for one, possess talents with flora.'_ "—turned into either one of the students or teachers, and snuck past the wards and into the castle that way." '_Gaah! It wouldn't mask my youki since it's only an illusion. Get your facts straight, baka!'_

"Professor!" A girl in the back of the room raised her hand. "It's time to leave."

Binns glanced up at the clock. "I suppose so," he mumbled. "For homework I want a foot-long essay on Hogwarts' security and how it has been and can be improved. Due next class period. You may leave now."

'_Finally!'_ Kurama groaned. He grabbed his books and rushed out of the classroom as quickly as possible.

* * *

"_Bwahaha!_" Yusuke cackled, "_I beat you! Guess the 'super fast hiyoukai Hiei' isn't so fast after all! So it _wasn't_ a fluke that I beat you at the warehouse after all!_"

"_Correct. That was Kurama,_" Hiei informed him coldly. "_And half a thorn is nothing to be proud of._"

"_You're just angry that I got 42 thorns and you only caught 41½,_" Yusuke sniffed, sounding a bit miffed. Neither of them noticed that halfway through their contest, nearly all of the class had turned to watch them in amazement (and therefore abandoning their own plants), stunned by the speed and ferocity with which the duo were catching thorns. Amazing what a bit of competition can do, isn't it?

"_If you hadn't shoved me out of the way, that thorn wouldn't have broken off and it would have been a tie. Anyway, I swear that the plant was aiming high._"

"_Hah! Stop trying to make excuses, Shorty! You_ know_ that I won fair and square. Don't deny it!_"

"Class dismissed. You may leave!"

Yusuke and Hiei continued to argue out the door and up to the castle, where a nice lunch awaited them.

* * *

"So…" Kurama asked, "What brought this argument on? I don't think I've heard Hiei talk this much in weeks. Not that it's a bad thing, of course." He was sitting at the Gryffindor table again, much to the disgust of his housemates and discomfort of the Gryffindors.

"I'm not entirely sure myself," Harry admitted. "I don't even know what they're talking about (it's not like they're speaking in English, after all). All I know is that in Herbology, they suddenly started catching loads of thorns and when Professor Sprout told us to pack up, Hiei didn't sound too happy and Yusuke seemed to be gloating."

"Catching thorns?" Kurama asked, sounding a bit _too_ interested. "What were you all doing?" His eyes seemed to gleam with a violent light.

"De-thorning venomous dart-shooter plants," Harry answered. Kurama could tell that he was wondering why 'Shuichi' would want to know.

"Would they happen to be extremely sharp and poisonous?" Kurama queried.

"Yeah… Why do you ask?"

"I think I might know what those two might be arguing about," was all that the kitsune gave in the form of explanation.

Leaning across the table to where Yusuke and Hiei were _still_ bickering (though they would probably have chosen to use a slightly more _masculine_ word, had they been given a choice), Kurama interrupted by saying, "_Would you two happen to be arguing over who gets to fight me this evening? I assume that that's what the competition was about earlier._"

Hiei and Yusuke both broke their glares at each other in order to turn them to Kurama.

"_I assume that this means that I am correct?_" Kurama asked.

"_Hn,_" Hiei confirmed.

"_I assure you that I'll go easy on either one of you,_" the kitsune assured, "_though I'll bet that the discussion has by now degraded to Hiei being unable to accept the fact that he lost yet again to a mere human, and Yusuke gloating because it's true. Am I right?_" The annoyed grunts that followed were more than enough to tell him he was.

"_Oi, oi, what's with the 'mere'?_" Yusuke demanded, glaring at the redhead over a plate of chips.

"_You must admit, Yusuke,_" Kurama said, smirking slightly, "_that humans are clearly inferior to youkai._"

"_Oi, you ought to be _thankful_ for us, Kurama!_" Yusuke defended. "_After all, if it weren't for us, you wouldn't still be alive._"

"_True_," Kurama conceded, "_but the only reason I'm stuck in this week mortal body still is my mother._"

"_Your_ human _mother,_" Yusuke muttered under his breath, but he let the subject drop, deciding to instead dig in to the large sandwich awaiting consumption.

Meanwhile, Kurama, who had opted to eat a nice green salad, looked up to find that Hiei had somehow sat down beside him.

"_Hai, Hiei ka?_" he asked with a sigh.

"_You seem depressed, kitsune. What's wrong?_"

"_Aa,_" Kurama said, with a half-hearted chuckle, "_It's not so much depressed as annoyed and embarrassed, I'm afraid._"

"_Naze ka?_" Hiei asked.

"_Why?_" Kurama echoed. "_I'm afraid you'll have to wait; I don't particularly feel like recounting this morning's episode right now. You'll find out in History of Magic, I'm sure._ "

"_That's two periods from now,_" Hiei pointed out dryly.

"_I suppose that's true,_" Kurama pondered, munching on a leaf of lettuce. "_You'll just have to be patient, won't you?_"

Both remained silent for several minutes. Finally, Hiei spoke first. "_The tantei appears to be enjoying himself._" Yusuke was engaged in an involved conversation with the trio on some sort of discussion about the harshest punishments they'd ever received. Yusuke was insisting that some of Genkai's tortures could not be beat, while Harry described the harsh treatment of the Dursleys, Ron detailed life with five older brothers, and Hermione watched in disdain.

"_He can't use that potion forever, you know,_" Hiei stated.

"_I don't see you offering to help teach him English,_" Kurama pointed out dryly.

"_You'd be better at it than me._"

"_True…_"

Changing the subject, Hiei asked, "_Do you know where we're going to spar tonight?_"

"_Koenma-sama mentioned that McGonagall-hakase had said we could use the quidditch pitch after curfew, as long as one of us was patrolling the school at all times. I was thinking about tutoring Yusuke in English then._"

"_How does that brat expect us to find, seek out, and destroy those 'Horcrux' things if we're busy attending classes in the day and patrolling the stupid school all night?_"

"_Truthfully?_" Kurama sighed, "_I have no idea. But I suppose that we'll have to cope. I was thinking that, to lighten our own workload, we could just follow Harry and his friends._"

"_You seriously think that they'll make any progress?_" Hiei wondered doubtfully.

"_You've overheard them just as much as I have,_" Kurama said. "_They know at least as much, if not more than we do._"

"_It'll be awfully hard to pull off without breaking our cover,_" Hiei pointed out.

"_I know,_" Kurama admitted. "_I'm still working on it, you know._"

"_Hn._"

"_I wouldn't be worried too much about detection if I were you, though,_" Kurama assured. "_After all, I'm a worlds famous thief, and you aren't so bad yourself. We pilfered Reikai's vaults together with that idiot Gouki and didn't get caught, did we not?_"

"_Hmph,_" Hiei snorted. "_Reikai's security is nothing compared even to a couple of paranoid ningen teenagers. Don't get too complacent, kitsune._"

"_I won't, Hiei, don't worry. Anyway, are you going to eat?_"

"_No._"

"_You know,_" Kurama said, reaching for a pitcher of water, "_if you feel that Western foods are too rich and fatty, you could always go for a salad like me._"

"_Don't be stupid, fox. I'm a youkai, not a rabbit._"

"_Heh. I used to say something similar when my mother would try to make me eat vegetables. It takes a while to adjust to long term life in Ningenkai, doesn't it?_"

"_I suppose._"

"_Ah, well. I suppose I ought to tell Yusuke about our plans for the evening. I assume that he'll be taking first patrol?_"

"_Correct._"

"_Alright._"

Kurama leaned over to where Yusuke, Ron, and Harry were still having a heated discussion, with Hermione observing from the sidelines. "Excuse me," he said in English for the benefit of the Trio. "May I borrow Yusuke for a second, please?"

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "What is it? Hiei isn't being a stubborn jerk, is he?"

"_Far from it,_" Kurama sniffed. "_We were discussing our plans for the evening. You'll be taking first patrol as soon as curfew begins for the rest of the students. You still have your special pass, I hope? Meanwhile, Hiei and I will spar in the quidditch pitch. At eleven, you and Hiei'll switch off. I'll take the last round from two to five. We'll rotate our hours through the week, though? Do you have it?_"

"_Yeah, yeah._" Yusuke waved it off. "_I understand. And when are we supposed to do our homework?_ _(Not that I care, of course.)_"

"_Ask Koenma-sama_," Kurama said. "_He's the one who got us into this mess._"

"_Keh,_" Yusuke growled angrily. "_I'm gonna give that kid a pretty loud piece of mind when he calls next._"

"_I have no objections to that,_" Kurama agreed.

"_Is that all?_"

"_It should be._"

"So," Harry asked Yusuke as the tantei turned back, "what did he want to talk to you about?"

"Oh, classes and stuff like that," Yusuke responded vaguely. "You know, things."

"Yeah, speaking of classes, don't we have next period with the Slytherins?"

"Yes, you do," Kurama piped up from beside Hiei.

"Oh, no!" Ron groaned. "Shuichi, you may be pretty decent, but I can't say the same for the rest of your housemates."

"What class is it, anyway?" Yusuke wondered.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts."

* * *

**Disclaimer:** YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi and all related industries. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and all related industries. I make no profit off this work of fiction.

**Notes:**

-_Shounen Jump_, for those of you who didn't know, is a very popular weekly manga magazine in Japan. YuYu Hakusho was originally serialized in it back before I was born.  
-Okay…Hiei was beaten by Kurama when they first met, and I don't _think_ they've fought since. Yusuke and Kurama haven't had a chance to fight at all yet. Kurama is extremely persistent and has cool plants. That's why neither Yusuke nor Hiei really want to fight him.  
-The translation potion: this is a really complex potion that only works for a week at a time. It can only be brewed by a master (i.e., Slughorn or Snape). If taken for prolonged periods of time, it becomes toxic. Though you can mentally switch between both the new language and your native one, you can _only_ understand the language you have selected. For example, if Yusuke has 'English' mentally selected and Kurama says something to him in Japanese, Yusuke won't understand it. He must recognize that Kurama is saying _something_ in Japanese, mentally switch to that language, and _then_ he won't be able to understand any English. Why? Dumbledore and Barty Crouch Sr. wouldn't bother learning 150-200+ languages and there wouldn't have been that confusion with the Bulgarian Prime Minister at the Quidditch World Cup if there was a simple solution. However, this is magic, so there's gotta be _something_.

**A/N:** I'm sorry I took so long to update!!! Life has been hectic with spring break, school, standardized testing, loads of new manga, piano recital, jazz show, projects, and a new fanfiction. So yeah, no time to write this. Hopefully this long chapter will make up for it, though. Anyway, I again attempted to get the remainder of the school day into this chapter, but I again failed. Coming up is DADA and (possibly) Herbology with Kurama! Filler chapters _might_ begin in Ch. 9 if I'm lucky (thanks to everyone who submitted and/or reviewed, by the way), although they _will _include plot details, too, so don't think that they're entirely pointless. …Anyway, be sure to check out my new fanfiction once it's up. It's called _Culminations_ and is an HPxFMA crossover.

Oh, and my brother and I decided that Kurama is the most beat-up upon character in the series. Why? Hiei generally wins physically inclined fights with relative ease. Yusuke gets beat up a bit, but it's generally a straightforward physical/spiritual fight. Kurama, however, gets mixed up in psychological torture/tricks, blackmail, knife wounds/cuts from other sharp objects, bombs, etc., and he's still in a human body. So, in keeping with this pattern, I plan to torture him a lot later on. Sorry! 


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Please settle down, class." Professor Cardille, despite his rather commanding appearance, seemed to have a rather docile and submissive personality. He stood in the front of the room, which was decorated rather sparsely compared to some of its previous forms, near a large desk stacked with mountains of paperwork. "Since it's your last year of school and war is upon us, I thought I'd start off with a few real-life skills."

"Like what?" Hermione asked from Harry's side, predictably shooting her hand into the air.

"Basic dueling, the best way to defend yourself and your family from a dark wizard's attack, and how to search for escape routs. We'll probably do a lot of review, too, since you'll be taking your N.E.W.T.s this year," Cardille replied, not even bothering to look up from a sheaf of papers he was reviewing. Continuing with the lecture Cardille said, "Now, I want you to…"

"Hmph," Ron snorted. The Trio had all taken seats in the middle of the room, which, due to the number of early arrivals, were the closest to the front that they could get. "His lesson plans don't sound too much different from yours in the D.A., Harry."

"Isn't that a good thing?" the black-haired boy wondered as he paged through his textbook, _'Advanced Defense in the Modern World'_, half-listening as Cardille elaborated on the syllabus for the year.

"Perhaps," Hermione cautioned him, pausing for a moment with her note taking, "but only if he actually sticks to it."

"What's the D.A.?" Yuusuke butted in inquisitively. He and Hiei were seated in the row behind the Trio. Shuuichi had been unable to join them, having been literally dragged over to the other side of the room by snooty Slytherins who wished to prevent any more corruption than had already occurred during mealtimes.

"Well, you see," Ron began in an eager undertone, attempting not to catch the attention of the professor, "in fifth year, we had a little problem with our Defense professor, and Harry and we decided that we needed to do something about it, so Harry started a little club…" The redhead went on to explain a bit about the D.A., with the occasional piece of input from Harry or Hermione.

"…So basically," Yuusuke summed up when they were done, "your teacher was an incompetent nincompoop who couldn't teach to save her life, so you started a secret militia named after your (now deceased) headmaster, only to be betrayed by one of your own members and saved by a stressed-out house elf. Am I correct?"

"Well, not entirely, but you have the general gist—" Harry laughed nervously.

"Would Mr. Potter care to remind us what the most commonly used defensive spell is?" Harry discovered that the previously meek professor appeared a lot more intimidating when he was hovering over you darkly.

'_Ulp.'_ Harry had not been paying attention at all to Professor Cardille's instructional talk. Neither had Ron or Yuusuke, but he was pretty sure that Hermione and Hiei were.

He glanced at them both, looking for help, but found the pair to be unrelenting. Oh well, then. He'd have to take a stab at a guess. "Is it 'expelliarmus'?"

"Though that was not meant to be answered in the form of a question, that is correct." Cardille frowned down at the Boy Who Lived, clearly upset over his early lack of class participation. "Would you now care to explain why that is so?" Ron and Yuusuke winced in sympathy, but offered no aid.

"Er, because it's really simple and effectively disarms the opponent?"

"Again, that wasn't supposed to be a Jeopardy answer, but yes." Raising his voice, Cardille turned to the rest of the class, leaving behind a very relieved Harry. "And for the record, the second most common spell is 'stupefy', mainly because it is more difficult and harder to aim correctly, as well as having a chance of severely injuring select people.

"Now," he continued, "I believe it is time to begin today's lesson. We are going to be holding a class discussion on current events. You may speak at any time, as long as you are interrupting no one else and your comment is on-topic. We want to discover what is going in the world and how we can defend ourselves from it. Take notes, because you'll need them for your homework assignment. Does anyone wish to begin?"

Not surprisingly, Hermione was the first to raise her hand. As she did so, Hiei nudged Yuusuke. Harry heard the shorter of the pair mumble, "Pay attention; we could both use the review."

Hermione, meanwhile, had decided to start with the depressing events of the previous year. "Several months before the release of school," she began, sounding as if she had rehearsed the speech weeks earlier, "our former Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, was killed during a Death Eater attack on the school. Since then, Death Eater attacks have increased immensely."

"Very good," Cardille mused. "Especially since it directly relates to and affects all of us here."

Hermione beamed.

"Now, would anyone like to add or comment on that?"

A girl in the back—Harry thought she was one of those invisible one whose names he still had never learned, even after seven years—timidly raised a hand slightly into the air. "My aunt said that You-Know-Who was only waiting to reveal his true power until Professor Dumbledore was out of the way."

"Hah!" Dean Thomas burst out. "My granny says that if Snape can kill off Dumbledore, than either You-Know-Who is a whole lot weaker than he's letting on, or Dumbledore really lost his touch."

"That's 'cause your grandmother's senile!" Blaise Zabini drawled out.

"You're only saying that because your _mother_ has been in and out of St. Mungo's mental ward for a year now! I heard that she insists on wearing hats knitted out of howling hydro-blooms!" Pansy Parkison taunted whilst making a gruesome face.

Harry glanced towards Neville to see how the boy would react to the comment, even though it was not directed towards him. Neville, however, seemed not to notice, opting instead to offer a hesitant comment himself. "_My_ gran says that we should focus on learning enough defense to give us time to call the Aurors. She says that we shouldn't even _need_ to have to defend ourselves, because the ministry should be taking care of that for us."

"Now, that's ridiculous!" Ron challenged angrily. "My dad works for the ministry and—while I do admit that they could be doing a lot more—it's stupid to think that they're gonna be willing to baby-sit everyone."

"Oh, yeah?" Dean demanded. "What _should_ they be doing, then? The way things are now, it seems like nothing!"

Harry could tell that the whole discussion was quickly spiraling out of control. It appeared that, in their vexation with the ministry, the majority of the students had forgotten that their teacher was not only a Hogwarts employee, but an auror, and therefore in the employ of the ministry, too.

It seemed that Cardille was of a similar opinion. "Er, class… If you would quiet down a bit…"

His attempts at restoring some semblance of order were lost among the uproarious shouts and arguments.

Harry thought that he heard someone mutter, "Then why are they wasting aurors on us?"

"My father works there, too—in the Asian Relations Department!" Parvati Patil exclaimed. From what Harry had gathered from Hermione, Parvati and her sister, Padma, had somehow managed to convince their parents that the question of their safety paled in comparison to the need to complete their education. Harry though that this was merely an excuse to see one more year of the handsome and mysterious Professor Firenze, but hadn't seen fit to mention it.

"I can assure you," Parvati continued, "that the ministry is doing its utter best to gather foreign support. We already have Japan and India on our side, and China is under negotiations. And according to his sister department, American Relations, Canada has pledged its full support, though we are still working on the States."

Shuuichi saw fit to speak up now. "While I cannot say for any of the other nations, I can truthfully tell that Japan would not be so quick to ally itself with a western nation, and the same probably goes for China. Our magic is remarkably different; on levels that are nearly incomparable."

"Yeah?" Parvati demanded, face red with rage. "In just what manner?"

"We do not train ourselves on such petty things as spells and jinxes," Shuuichi sniffed. "We have considerably more magic, or _ki_ as we call it, to work with. We Japanese wizards tend to be priests or priestesses in Shintou or monks in Buddhism. Others, of course, prefer to channel their _ki_ through weapons or limbs in martial arts, among other uses. Incredibly useful in an attack, but beyond the comprehension of _gaijin_."

"_Wow_, Shuuichi!" Pansy cooed from beside him, having to raise her voice a bit to be heard over the numerous other conversations taking place around theirs. Harry almost gagged at the false sweetness pouring from her mouth and expression. "Do you think that you could _teach_ me?"

"Fool," Hiei snorted. Harry whipped his head around so fast, he had to pause to caress his neck. "I doubt that any in this room but us has the power to do it. In fact, it would be rather amusing to see you try."

'_Power?_' Harry wondered. That didn't make much sense. What did power have anything to do with the use of a technique?

Apparently Pansy was equally lost. "What does he mean, Shuuichi?" she whined.

Several smaller arguments and conversations had stopped their talking to pay attention to the current one going on.

"Well," Shuuichi paused, thinking a bit in an attempt to organize his thoughts, "if you can think about it like this, perhaps it will help. Normally, humans are surrounded by _ki_ and can emit it from any point on their bodies, but most are unable to control it. Western magic users can, but in their attempts to do more precise tasks with their energy, they put a shield, so to speak, over most of their _ki_, allowing only a small, fine trickle to leak out. Think of it as filling a plastic bag with water and punching only a small hole in the side. The problem is, though, that once the shield is formed, it is almost impossible to destroy. However, eastern magic users with a lot of control, such as us, have the ability to do western magic, as well."

"So," Hermione frowned, "you're saying that if we had started training in Eastern magic before Western, we would able to do it?"

"Nah," Yuusuke grinned. "Didn't you hear Hiei a while back? I may not get the whole subject as much as the other two do, but I _do_ know that Western sorcery requires _way_ less energy than ours, so probably most of you wouldn't have enough in the first place."

"Correct," Shuuichi nodded.

"Aw, this is stupid!" Blaise yawned. "I don't see why you people even care about stuff like that. What is the point of having magic if you don't use it for spells?"

"I dunno about that," Dean challenged. "This other stuff sounds pretty useful now that the whole war business has escalated so much."

"Not that you'd care," Ron tacked on spitefully. "Seeing as how you're probably all chummy with You-Know-Who right now."

That was going a bit far, in Harry's opinion, though he was careful not to voice it, instead waiting to see what Zabini's reaction would be.

"That was uncalled for, Weasley," Blaise spat angrily. He reclined a bit, his furious expression quickly melting into a smirk. "However, if I just so happened to be 'chummy' with the Dark Lord, as you so eloquently put it, I'd make sure that he went after you as soon as he'd dealt with Potter."

Ron wisely kept his silence, settling with only a violent glare in the Slytherin boy's direction. Meanwhile, the conversation continued to rage about them on the topic of Eastern versus Western magic, finally degenerating into a argument about the most useful household spells.

Harry was not quite sure how the class had managed to derive such a mundane topic from the prompt of discovering 'what is going in the world and how we can defend ourselves from it'. But then again, it wasn't particularly often that Hogwarts professors held class wide debates.

Somehow, the hour and fifty-minute period managed to vanish rather quickly in all the confusion. Before Harry was quite sure what was happening, Cardille had resumed his position at front of the room and, after assigning the classwork again as independent homework, ushered the students out the door.

"Now _that_," Ron said, grinning, "_completely _made up for Herbology."

"How can you say that?" Hermione demanded indignantly. "Cardille was nothing like I expected. He had absolutely _no_ control over the discussion. We'll never learn anything this year if it's like this everyday!" She, of course was the only one who had bothered to take notes, with the possible exception of Shuuichi.

"Isn't that the point?" Ron wondered, before continuing, "That's probably the most fun I've had in a Defense class since Lupin was teaching. (Moody doesn't count 'cause that was a fake…and he used spiders.)"

"Well, that's not really that hard to accomplish, considering that our other teachers were Quirrell, Lockhart, Umbridge…and Snape," Harry pointed out, unconsciously pausing on the name of their previous professor. "But it _was_ a lot of fun."

"Really, you two!" Hermione harrumphed. "You should be viewing this seriously! Even if N.E.W.T.s may not be the first thing on our minds, we still have to focus on locating and destroying—" she glanced behind them, noticing that Yuusuke, Hiei, and Shuuichi were trailing in their wake, shamelessly listening in on the conversation with interest. "…the you-know-whats," she finished, lowing her voice several to a soft pianissimo.

"So," Ron announced loudly for the benefit of their eavesdroppers, "we have a free period next, right? What do you say that we head over to the library and work on the essays that Cardille set us with?"

Harry could have sworn that he heard Hermione mutter, "Idiot. That assignment doesn't _require_ any research," but knew that she got the hidden meaning just as well as he did. And, thinking upon it, it _was_ a perfect opportunity to research Horcruxes away from prying companions. Namely, the three Japanese students who were trailing behind them. Hiei and Yuusuke were going to be too wrapped up with History of Magic, which the Trio had had the good fortune to be able to drop, and Shuuichi would be occupied with Herbology. They would not have to fear any pesky interruptions from that corner.

They bid the 'pesky interruptions' farewell when they had to leave to head toward their respective classes, they themselves heading to the library.

* * *

Kurama was in heaven. Not literally of course, for he was still alive and kicking. Well, not _kicking_…but he had found his niche.

Kurama, as nigh on all of you should know, is a renowned plant master and is also known for being a deadly, cold-hearted thief. So naturally, he fit quite well in the Herbology Greenhouse 6, among Sprout-hakase's most dangerous specimens.

His class had the exact same assignment as Yuusuke and Hiei's had, with one slight difference. While it had taken a great deal of urging for the other two to get the motivation to actually put any effort into their task, Kurama was gliding through the lesson with almost surreal ease.

The darts of the venomous dart-shooter plant sailed in a graceful arc through the air to land in a perfect bull's-eye in the kitsune's thorn-catcher. Had Professor Sprout not known better, she would have said that it was as if they were flying upon command, leaving Pansy (his partner) standing dumbly off to the side with nothing to do.

Kurama, of course, would have made numerous denials of this fact, no matter how true it may or may not have been.

While the fox easily fed tendrils of his _ki_ into the plant, nudging its shots towards his target, he pondered whether or not to add it to his inventory of seeds concealed in his hair.

To his surprise, there was no exact Makai cousin to the plant. Several similar ones, but no parallel. He found himself wondering if he would be able to crossbreed it with any of those relatives in his supply, creating… The possibilities were promising. He'd have to try it at some point.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yuusuke was struggling to contain his laughter. "Can you imagine the fox's face when he heard this garbage?" he asked Hiei, who was seated next to him in History of Magic. "I can't decide whether he would have be laughing or flushing."

"Hn," Hiei replied, biting back a ruder, "Shut. Up."

Professor Binns continued to drone on with the exact same lecture that had put students asleep all day, failing to notice that, for once, he had managed to amuse at least two of his pupils.

* * *

"This is hopeless!" Ron groaned, tossing down a stack of books beside him.

"Don't give up now, Ron!" Hermione admonished, her nose stuck in a book titled _Dark Wizards of the Century_.

"You've got to admit that it would help if we knew where to _start_ searching," he retorted.

"Yeah, Ron," Harry said sarcastically. "I'm sure that if we ask Madame Pince quite nicely, she'll be happy to hand us over _Hunting Horcruxes for Dummies_. Yeah, real likely, that."

"I'm not saying it has to be _that_ specific," Ron retorted. "Just anything at all. We don't even know if we're looking in the right place. For all we know, R.A.B. may be a house elf!"

"Honestly, Ron," Hermione cried out indignantly, "S.P.E.W.—"

"House elves _do_ have to follow their master's orders," Harry reminded him, effectively preventing Hermione from continuing her burgeoning tangent.

"But it could be true for just that reason!" Ron argued. "I mean, the guy orders his house elf to use its special magic to steal the Horcrux, instructs it to leave the note, and therefore takes all the credit!"

"Ron's idea does have some merit," Hermione frowned. Harry wasn't sure if this was because she didn't quite agree or because of the mentions of house elf enslavement. "But that would mean that R.A.B. came from one of the older, richer wizarding families."

Ron looked rather nervous now that his scheme was being taken seriously. "Er, Hermione…It was just a joke, you know…" Seeing that she seemed intent on pursuing the subject, he attempted a second jest. "Hey, Harry! Did your grandparents own a house elf?"

"What?!"

"Well, I figure that R.A.B. couldn't have come from a dark wizarding family, right? Otherwise, what would be the point in him destroying a Horcrux?"

"That's not necessarily true," Harry pointed out. "Sirius was good, even though his family was pretty much on the Dark side."

"And they had a house elf, too…" Hermione mumbled. "How coincidental."

"You don't think--" Ron said, her conclusion dawning on him, as well.

"The initials don't fit," Harry pointed out.

"The last does," Hermione realized.

"Maybe a relative?" Ron wondered.

From the hall, the bell signaling the end of the period briefly drowned out their hushed voices.

"I'll check the school records and see if the library has a family tree," Hermione volunteered, hefting a stack of books.

"If that doesn't work, I'll see if I can get Lupin to make a sketch of the one in Sirius' house," Harry offered.

"But if we're wrong, it's back to the beginning," Ron warned.

"It's worth a try!" Harry declared, he spirits rising immensely as the trio happily headed down to dinner.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Yuu Yuu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi and all related industries. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and all related industries. I make no profit off this work of fiction.

**Notes:**  
-As you may have noticed, I'm changing the spelling of certain names to the more accurate 'Shuuichi', 'Yuu Yuu Hakusho', and 'Yuusuke'. Eventually, I'll get around to reposting the previous chapters with this edit.  
-I'm too lazy to add the little line thingy over the 'o' in 'Shinto', so I'm just gonna spell it 'Shintou'.  
-The whole RAB thing was completely unexpected, even for me.

**A/N: **I'm seriously really sorry for this super late update. Whoever believes that summer vacation equals more free time is seriously wrong. I've had/will have/am having a dance recital (ballet and jazz), week long, all day music camp, week long, extremely painful pointe camp, two week car trip to Quebec, week long overnight music camp, assisting at an art camp, another dance camp, new manga, second fanfiction, gotta reread the entire HP series b/c of DH, and…yeah. So I can't guarantee swift updates. Filler arc (which I am definitely looking forward to writing) will definitely start at Chapter Ten.

_I would also like to take a moment to thank all my wonderful readers and reviewers who have stuck with me this far_. Doumo arigatou gozaimashita!


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